Nina Paley

Look closely and you can see the fang punctures George leaves on this stool he regularly attacks.

Just re-listened, after many years, to the late David Rakoff speaking on the musical Rent: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/472/our-friend-david It's so good. Listen! (Go straight to Act 6.)

Sometimes I despair of aging. Other times I think, I'm looking pretty good for 58. Helps when the camera is at a distance. Malnutrition from "Exercise-Induced Gastrointestinal Disorder" also plays well to the camera, but like Crohn's disease is quite painful and life-impairing so I do not recommend.

Ever wonder how to punish a sin? Do you investigate, bring before elders, or just start stoning? or burning? or by the sword? Whose blood is upon whom's? Well wonder no more! This handy reference chart explains all. https://ninapaley.com/2026/08/18/sins-and-punishments/

I'm performing an unscientific experiment called "How much homemade ice cream can I eat before I get literally or figuratively sick of it?"

There are very few photos of me actually riding a recumbent bike, because I usually ride solo and can’t photograph myself from a distance. Here's a rare one taken by a friend yesterday evening.

Ever wonder what ruminant/bird you need to sacrifice for your sins and impurities? Well wonder no more. This handy table makes it easy to atone! https://ninapaley.com/2026/08/14/sin-offering-table/

Huh.

Today I discovered a whole subreddit about cats who like to be spanked, which they call “bongos” (as in playing the bongos on your cat). My George is not so unusual. https://www.reddit.com/r/catbongos/

My bike waiting for a train to pass this morning

This is what sunrise looks like in 99% humidity.

Looks like the manual for my new cooking pan was written with the help of a sycophantic chatbot and designed by someone who can't read English.

(It's a very good pan by the way.)

I seem to be over my Exercise-Induced Gastrointestinal Syndrome episode, and am both bicycling and digesting food again (not at exactly the same time). I judged myself well enough to eat this totally excellent CHOCOLATE TERFFLE ICE CREAM I made, with no ill effects. OMG it is so good. Recipe:

Chocolate TERFfle ice cream

1/2 tsp Cardamom seeds 3/4 tsp (or more) ground Cinnamon 1/4 tsp cayenne powder 1/8 tsp salt 2 cups lactose-free whole milk, divided 1.5 cups heavy cream 2 Tablespoons cornstarch 1/ cup sugar heaping 1/4 cup cocoa powder 6 squares (about 3 ounces) very dark chocolate (such as Trader Joe’s 72% cacao), chopped 3 tsp vanilla extract

1. Grind cardamom seeds in a spice grinder or use mortar and pestle. Combine with cinnamon, cayenne, and salt.

2. Place 1-1/2 cups milk and 1-1/2 cups cream in a saucepan with the sugar, cocoa powder, chopped chocolate, and spices.

3. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup milk with the cornstarch to make a slurry.

4. Heat milk/cream/chocolate/spice mixture on medium or low heat, stirring constantly so chocolate doesn’t burn and milk doesn’t scorch. As soon as chocolate melts, slowly whisk in cornstarch slurry. Continue whisking on medium heat heat until thickened.

5. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla extract. Cool, then refrigerate overnight or until completely chilled.

6. Freeze/churn according to your ice cream-making device’s directions.

Finally, a new blog post! About bicycling, sunrises, and the ecstasy and agony of endurance exercise. https://ninapaley.com/2026/08/02/523am/

Me chatting with a friend about a local artist he just met:

I finally found litter boxes that limit my cats' destructive capacity. Huge life improvement.

Day 3 of "Exercise-Induced Gastrointestinal Syndrome" or whatever the hell this is. Crohn's biomarkers are absent in this morning's blood test, so technically not a flare; but I never had this before I got Crohn's.

TalkTalk is so good and so 80's.

Here's how I understand Dew Point: on a normal day, water will condense on a cool (say 40°F) glass of water. On a warm humid day with a dew point of 60°, water will condense on a warmer, up to 60° glass of water. On a corn-sweat heat-advisory day like today, with a dew point of 80°, water will condense on anything up to 80°. It will condense on your bike and glasses and any "room-temperature" object you take outside. An 80° warm glass of water will look like this today.

I’m frustrated that my limit to bicycling is not my muscles joints heart or lungs, but my freaking digestive system. I seem to have “exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome”. I biked 350 miles this week, avoiding heat by riding at dawn, and felt fine until I seriously threw up today. 🤬🤮😭🚲

I started doing moderate (25-50 miles) dawn rides when a couple centuries trashed my digestion a few months ago. Thought I figured it out but no, there’s a mile limit even in the morning cool. Weird I don’t get any other physical signals to stop.

It’s true that 350 miles in one week is the most I have done in years. Obviously I won’t repeat it. But I wish that I could if I wanted to.

Even after many years, this video continues to amaze me.

New Heterodorx podcast! Episode 199: Miracle Patient

https://heterodorx.substack.com/p/episode-199-miracle-patient

*What’s it like to survive Stage 4 abdominal cancer? The Dorx interviewed Alasdair over a year ago, shortly after he learned he was an immunotherapy “miracle patient.” But we never released that episode, partly because Nina cried about her own problems. Here Nina and Alasdair attempt to re-create April 2025 (not May, as Nina incorrectly asserts) and cover most of the same topics: emergency surgery, chemotherapy, heart failure, asking Dr Google, the woman across the infusion table, tuning out of genderworld, and robot litter boxes. All with less drama and more propriety!

But is that a good thing? Should Nina release the spiked episode, which she has since listened to, despite Alasdair’s protestations? Tell us in the comments!*

WOMAN ride 2026

https://www.strava.com/activities/19324049740

I am WOMAN, hear me ride Watch me geo-write outside A word that is referring to my sex

I’m Adult Human Female See Reality prevail In spite of what your queer theory projects

Oh yes, I am strong I don’t buy into your shit I’ve said you are wrong And you’ve cancelled me for it

I am strong Reality prevails I am WOMAN!

Only this morning did it occur to me that the Beatles song "Get Back" has lyrics about a tranny...I was right! Named Loretta even, like in Monty Python's Life of Brian.

It was indeed an ordeal, requiring visits to 2 stores on a hot sweaty day by bike. Wal-Mart's paint department was half out of color chips and the mixer operator didn't know how to find colors except on chips. So I pedaled on to Sherwin-Williams, which had lots of chips but only "satin" base in small amounts. To spend $8 instead of $35 I went with satin, which will look a bit off but the color will look a bit off anyway since there's no way to match it perfectly. Here's how it looks freshly applied; it should dry a bit lighter.

I'll probably hang a picture over it, which I could have done without patching the holes in the first place.

Sadly, I only got as far as sanding this because the can of leftover wall paint in the garage had solidified. Now I have to get new paint which will be an ordeal.

I'm fixin' a hole

Good morning

And AI's killing both!

This just visited my head so I looked it up and played it. Good song.

HAWT

Full moon on this morning’s ride.

New Heterodorx podcast! Episode 198: Alasdair Gunn Fills Cori's Royal Sandals https://heterodorx.substack.com/p/episode-198-alasdair-gunn-fills-coris

With Cori on indefinite hiatus, gender critical statistics aggregator, writer, designer, miracle cancer survivor, and friend o’ the pod’ Alasdair Gunn humbly offers to serve in his absence. We discuss why we don’t want to discuss gender. According to our recording platform’s AI assistant, we also talk about: (stuff written by AI, including "The importance of respecting host, John Corey, and future guest planning") We miss you John Corey! But with replacements like Alasdair Gunn and Riverside’s Large Language Model, we continue on.

Back to the Jackalope logo! Which is better, A or B?

Dense fog. 100% humidity. This is why I am not on my bike right now. Third morning in a row of being too wet outside to see the sunrise.

Someone played "attack the feet" too hard this morning. In a surprise twist, it was Ira, the "good" cat, rather than George, the typically "naughty" one. #Caturday

My air conditioner and furnace are being replaced right now. Work should last 3 days. Here's the old AC (the rusted green thing, over 30 years old) and furnace (only 17 I think? not too bad but failed a year and a half ago, requiring expensive repairs) in my driveway.

Lately I've been getting up every morning before dawn to ride in the sunrise. Today I got dampness and light rain instead. https://www.strava.com/activities/19021693270

I suggest those who dislike "Generative AI" call it "Gurgitative AI." ReGeneration is a foundation of Life; reGurgitation chews up and spits out that which Life provides. Similar, but different. I'm not really sure which AI does - or humans, for that matter.

Lazy #caturday.

Look at this little terrorist.

IS IT???

Buying stuff costs money and sometimes gives a little thrill, so it's supposed to be an indulgent "I'm worth it!" treat. But it doesn't feel like that when you're buying cat litter and bike tires.

Flooded fields. These are not actual ponds, just flooding from recent rains.

Happy Gay Pride.

New (old) Heterodorx podcast! Episode 196: The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Avocado Oil https://heterodorx.substack.com/p/episode-196-the-squeaky-wheel-gets

Heterodorx is on indefinite hiatus while one of us goes through some Life Stuff He Can’t Talk About. But here’s a recording from early April, released today, June 5. So much has already changed! For example, Nina’s favorite nutrition shake, Soylent, is no longer available. SAD! We also discuss vegans, vegetarians, having to eat meat when you don’t want it, a canceled (and then uncanceled) YouTuber, Spirit Island, house-moving helicopters and other Homo wner content, and greatly exaggerating reports of our death.

Why does this fecebook commenter think this is a win or gotcha?

Astoria, Queens, 1929. Don't know how I'd never seen this Bessie Smith musical short film before.

3 days ago I biked 106 miles and felt pretty okay afterwards. Yesterday I rode 109 miles and felt kinda sick afterwards. 2 centuries with only one day in between is apparently too much for me. https://strava.app.link/rbDpwYcms3b

Oh lawdy, my second century in 3 days. Now I'm ready to rest. https://www.strava.com/activities/18653553563

George & Ira

Another 100+ mile bike ride yesterday. I needed to work off the stress of more trees falling on my property and the daunting costs of maintaining/preserving this house. https://www.strava.com/activities/18625818510

My house was built in 1956. It's in a "new" part of town that freaked me out when I was a child in the 1970's, because its trees were so small. I grew up in an older neighborhood, in a house built around 1910. It was about 70 years old when I was a kid.

My "new" house is now 80 years old. The tiny trees around it have grown big and are starting to die. This is the second one to fall on my property this spring. I hope to hire an arborist to evaluate all the others before one crashes through my roof. Because I'm too low-income to downsize (long story) I'll just keep drawing down my savings to maintain this place until I run out.

Bought myself an ice cream maker and made ice cream. Also made warm fudge sauce, since I was already working with chocolate (TERFfles). The two together are AMAZING. Sometimes the things I produce in the kitchen are so good I feel sorry for the rest of the world for not getting to enjoy it.

Ira

I have had eczema in my ears since my late teens. Doctors have prescribed OTC cortisone cream, calendula cream, and eczema cream, which helped maybe 10% at best. Recently a fellow sufferer told me ocean swimming seemed to improve her symptoms. I had leftover 3% saline solution after switching to 7% for treating my Bronchiectasis (lung condition) so started swabbing my ears with it twice daily. It works. So much better now. Wish I hadn't had to wait until I was 58 to learn this. Wish doctors knew about it. Posting in case anyone with this annoying distracting maddening condition can use this info. MOAR SALT!

Today I used up the remains of a 40-year-old bottle of Chambord by adding a few tablespoons to a raspberry syrup I was cooking. Contents of this same bottle flavored a ricotta cake frosting when I was 17, and a few other dessert experiments. It continued living in my parents' house after I moved away for 23 years, and during my parents' stint in Malaysia in the late 1980's to early 1990's. It was still there when I moved back to Urbana in 2012, following my father's death, and moved to our new house in 2016. My Momz left it behind when she moved to the "independent living" place half a mile away.

I rinsed out the vintage bottle they no longer produce (sad!), and bought 375 fresh milliliters in an inferior bottle at Meijer, because it was on sale. It will likely outlive me.