Valerie Woolard

Opening the CFP for Brighton Ruby 2026.
All the videos are up for last year.
Tickets still on sale.
Please sponsor. (PLEASE)

the horrors have always persisted but i can’t get that picture of the sweet little boy in the blue hat out of my head

Pumping is so funny because you can ask any breastfeeding person what their favorite pump is and they’ll enthusiastically give you an answer.

And then you can follow that question up with, “But did you want to run it over with your car?” and the answer will always be yes.

my toxic trait is that I will start airplaying the nyt crossword to the tv if I get bored

i will die on the hill that pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding are three of the most metal things human beings can do

Ruby Central Board Member - Ruby Central About Ruby Central. Ruby Central is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing the Ruby programming language and community. We steward foundational open source infrastructure su...

If you care deeply about the Ruby programming language, open source sustainability, and community growth, here is your chance to help shape the future of the Ruby ecosystem. Accepting applications for the Board of Directors until November 21st: rubycentral.teamtailor.com/jobs/6723164...

Ruby Central Board Member - Ruby Central About Ruby Central. Ruby Central is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing the Ruby programming language and community. We steward foundational open source infrastructure su...

Ruby Central has opened board applications for next year: rubycentral.teamtailor.com/jobs/6723164...

I’ll be rolling off the board to have another baby and stuff, so I’d really love if you’d apply and/or share this with anyone who’s interested in being involved.

Movie musicals that are very good/appropriately hyped:
Chicago (2002)
Hairspray (2007)

Movie musicals that I don’t care for:
Sweeney Todd (2007)
Rent (2005)

Movie musicals that are flawed but I like anyway:
Into the Woods (2014)
Les Misérables (2012)

I had a long commute today and have some movie musical hot takes to share.

First, movie musicals that are underrated:
West Side Story (2021)
The Phantom of the Opera (2024)

Thank you! Margarita mix + tonic water + ice slushie is my current go-to

Two pages of a children’s book, one with a high contrast black and white rendering of a child, and the opposite page with the same image but inverted colors. Red text below reads “children smile”

This is my toddler’s favorite book right now but this page freaks me out

Welcome to Heroku Vibes Turn your ideas into apps with Heroku Vibes. Our AI-powered agent lets you build and deploy simply by describing what you want.

My team built this and it’s pretty fun www.heroku.com/blog/turn-id...

there are simply not enough delicious beverages that contain neither caffeine nor alcohol

No, ‘tis I who love the trains

texting this to my husband every time I want to talk about public transit infrastructure

Screengrab from a news broadcast with RFK Jr.’s face and “Autism Announcement” printed in large capital letters

All of this is ridiculous but it was kind of fun to see a meme be born in real time

One thing conservatives are gonna do is they’re gonna make sure pregnant people are suffering as much as possible—because, of course, they hate women and want them to suffer!

this also means that basically everyone takes it at some point during pregnancy because pregnancy is uncomfortable and also very dehydrating (I’m a headache girlie)

hey so tylenol is the only pain reliever considered safe during pregnancy so by saying pregnant folks shouldn’t take it (in addition to being based on dubious research) is essentially just telling them they can’t have pain relief

🙌

Sorry to everyone who has followed me recently that I am mostly retired from Posting

A board member's perspective of the RubyGems controversy What a week it's been as a Ruby Central Board Member.

Freedom, another member of the Ruby Central Board, wrote this post, but it closely aligns with my feelings and experiences as well.

apiguy.substack.com/p/a-board-me...

Isn’t a lot of what they’re expected to learn at that age those emotional and social skills? I know things like talking and early vocabulary are important, but I’d think that self-regulation is a prerequisite to pretty much everything.

I think we can definitely consider this and other ways to involve the community more. I would be curious to know how PSF deals with some of these challenges.

And yes, I limit replies and quote tweets because I don’t want to spend all my time moderating my bluesky, feel free to screenshot and dunk on me as you see fit.

Also, not for nothing, but the board is made up of volunteers trying their best and not some mysterious evil overlords. We felt this was in the best interest of the people who use our infrastructure, and we do want to work with the community on next steps.