Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
1. There’s a general strike today in solidarity with Minneapolis, comrades! (And if you can’t miss work, here are 20 other ways you can show up. Collective action takes many forms.)
2. If you’re local, there’s a rally at 2:00 at Washington Square downtown. I already made my sign:
3. It’s been a LONG terrible month but Sunday is February at least? I’ve also been doing Dry January–so I appreciated this post about managing anxiety without booze.
1. Speaking of Minnesota, after I posted yesterday I found a mega-roundup of links and ways to donate/help, “an independent project of a lady from Minneapolis.” Check it out–StandWithMinnesota.com.
2. Speaking of Minnesota, part 2: 
(from a hopeful thread on what it’s like in the Twin Cities now).
3. A wonderful thing: The darkest 10 weeks are over. 
1. Presented without comment: 
2. The NRA has to approve of the resurgence of the Black Panthers though, right?
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3. In happier non-America news: Japan is deploying robotic wolves to help deter bears. You have to click through to the picture.
1. I don’t want to make jokes about a murder but this did make me grimly smile. 
2. What a first week of 2026. I’m feeling this for sure (from Austin Kleon):
3. “The more division you have between people, the easier they are to control.”
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1. Continuing the holiday theme, I can’t stop saying, “Yule lads” to myself. Jólasveinar – The thirteen Icelandic Yule lads (Santa Clauses) .
2. This set of holiday jazz is smooooth and you can watch the guy being very “cool” about changing the records.
3. Final plumbing is happening today in the basement and final electrical might be Monday. Soon all the construction lads will be gone–I’d better ask if they’ve been practicing their dance moves while I can.
@brickingit1 Which is your favourite? #construction #dance #austinmillz ♬ Right Now – Austin Millz & Caroline Byrne
1. I learned a new word this very morning: Isicathamiya, “an a cappella singing style that is popular in the Zulu South African music community. It is known for close harmonies and choreographed dance moves performed by the singers.” How did I learn this? I saw a clip from The Joy, a group out of Durban. They picked a good name for themselves:
2. Hell yeah: Meet the Veteran Who Chases ICE on a Scooter.
“The first time I caught up to them, I could tell that they already knew who I was,” he told me when we first spoke on the phone in late October. “They had seen me before, so they thought they were just going to speed away. I was like, ‘Ha ha, bitches, I got a new scooter!’”
3. How every day of 2025 has felt:
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1. “A new study documented wild wolves using ropes to pull crab traps ashore, offering what may be the first proof of tool use by these animals.” (There’s video!) I, for one, welcome our canid overlords.
2. A longer essay from a dad about his adult child realizing they’re trans. The love is palpable.
3. Do I need to make a giant Thanksgiving centerpiece using Trader Joe’s flowers? Probably!
@casavfloral Back by popular demand, let’s make a Thanksgiving centerpiece 🍂 #traderjoesflowers #thanksgiving #centerpiece ♬ original sound – Alicia 🌷
1. It’s been years since I’ve thrown a real party. I don’t know when I’ll do it again but this list of 21 facts about throwing good parties was a nice read. (“Parties are like babies, if you’re stressed while holding them they’ll get stressed too.:)
2. It’s been a weird, hard week. But we’re still keeping on.
3. At least there’s the gym.
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1. I’ll always read a long piece about Costco. “Can the Golden Age of Costco Last?” (We got our first rotisserie chicken from Costco this week! A whole new world!)
2. This history of the @ symbol is delightful:
The ancient Greeks were fond of a style of clay pot called an amphora. … as time went on, an amphora became a standard unit of measure.
“Merchants had to communicate the idea that ‘I’m going to sell you a certain number of amphoras of something or other at a particular price’ quite a lot,” [author Keith] Houston says. And eventually, people started drawing an “a” with a long tail wrapped around it and skipping the rest of the letters.
3. Good news everyone, I found the cure for anxiety: 
4. And I found something that makes SO much sense:
1. Do you want to look at 800 years of English handwriting? You know you do.
2. A detailed guide on how to leave the leaves where you can and what to do with them when you need to clean them up from places like drains and sidewalks. I did not know this: “The space under a tree is an especially critical place to keep leaves since many butterfly and moth caterpillars drop down from trees into the leaf litter to pupate and overwinter.”
3. A Butlerian Jihad against AI sounds pretty good, honestly: 