Friday Links

1. I’m trying not to read everyone’s outrage, which keeps throwing gas on my own fire of outrage, but this quote from Kate Manne talking about misogyny is going to live in my head forever:

They don’t necessarily want women to go septic and die in parking lots, denied life-saving reproductive care in case it constitutes an abortion—a reality that Trump deliberately and proudly ushered into being. But if that’s the price of a cheaper tank of gas, or being able to afford a bigger house, or run a more profitable business, then they’ll willingly pay it

 

2. But enough of that! I’m going to refer to “planting iris” a lot in the future, I think. From Leonard Woolf’s Downhill All The Way: An Autobiography of the Years 1919-1939, via Austin Kleon:

One of the most horrible things at that time was to listen on the wireless to the speeches of Hitler—the savage and insane ravings of a vindictive underdog who suddenly saw himself to be all-powerful. We were in Rodmell during the late summer of 1939, and I used to listen to those ranting, raving speeches. One afternoon I was planting in the orchard under an apple-tree iris reticulata, those lovely violet flowers… Suddenly I heard Virginia’s voice calling to me from the sitting room window: “Hitler is making a speech.” I shouted back, “I shan’t come. I’m planting iris and they will be flowering long after he is dead.” Last March, twenty-one years after Hitler committed suicide in the bunker, a few of those violet flowers still flowered under the apple-tree in the orchard.

 

3. This is really the same sentiment as the quote above:

Friday Links

1. Speaking of women’s health: Is It Perimenopause or the Fascist Death Knell of Late-Stage Capitalism?

Is my insomnia caused by a spike in testosterone, or by the crippling fear that I could be arrested for saying the word “abortion” in 2025? Even if I’m joking. Like now. (This is a joke, for future reference.)

Is my anxiety perimenopausal, or is it a natural reaction to finding out Hulk Hogan might be the new Secretary of Homeland Security?

 

2. When satire is absolutely believable:

 

3. Yes this is true:

Friday Links

1. Jess Valenti burning down the house in her latest newsletter: “Yes, I’m a Single-Issue Voter” (emphasis mine).

I know the phrase is meant to be an insult—a dismissive jab suggesting that women’s political interests are superficial and simplistic—but I’m more than happy to don the label. Because the ‘single issue’ Republican men find so offensive isn’t really abortion: it’s women’s humanity.

That’s why they’re going to lose in November. We are fighting for our lives and they mock us for it.

 

2. I would put the odds higher than 50/50, honestly:

 

3. If you think your job is tricky, be glad you didn’t have to piece together a book found in a bog letter by letter. ‘It was terrifying’: ancient book’s journey from Irish bog to museum treasure.

 

4. Why are people making TikToks about me?

@mamacares9000 is there a hairbrush filter?? we love our quirky doggie !! #dogloversoftiktok #dogsitterlife #dogsitting #longervideos #longervideosontiktok #nobodycaresbutmama ♬ original sound – nobody cares but mama

Friday Links

1. The Northern Lights were visible in Utah last night but we did not see them, alas. But maybe we CAN see the Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which is coming into view tonight and getting brighter until Monday.

About 40 minutes after sunset on Friday, find a spot with a good view down to the western horizon. The first thing that will catch your eye will be the bright planet Venus, the Evening Star — that’s your starting point. Hold your fist out at arm’s length; the comet is about 2½ fists to Venus’s right.

2. Let’s read about the world’s most iconic train journeys.

3. I am begging you to turn the sound up on this:

Koyaanisqatsi isn’t quite as haunting if you replace Philip Glass with the music from the Wii Shop Channel.

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— Andy Kelly 👽 (@ultrabrilliant.xyz) September 13, 2024 at 12:33 AM

Friday Links

Whoops, I almost forgot to post today. I think this is a sign I need to start the weekend early.

1. Via Kottke, a site that catalogs chrome logos and components from vintage cars and tech: Chromeography.

 

2. Happy to hear the dockworkers’ strike has been resolved so quickly. Solidarity, always!

 

3. Clearly I need to start watching this game show. The prompt: “A sea shanty about struggling socially on the ship.”

 

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Friday Links

1. It’s never too late: Norma Geddes took her first stained glass class at age 69. “Now 82, Geddes spends up to eight hours a day, seven days a week working in her studio.” Living the dream!

 

2. I can confirm from personal experience this is true (also these are great colors for a crazy stripe sweater):

 

3. The idea of leaves being criminals just makes me laugh (good tips in the post):

 

4. And finally, this is the best description of Afternoon Writers Brain I’ve ever heard:

 

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Friday Links

1. Speaking of illustrated mail, how about The Postcards That Picasso Illustrated and Sent to Jean Cocteau, Apollinaire & Gertrude Stein? I love how the messages sound exactly like how friends text: “I don’t see you anymore. Are you dead?”

 

2. I just learned about the GERMAN FORKLIFT CHAMPIONSHIPS?!

 

3. Who knew Edo fish could convey so much? (I’m #3.)

Which Edo fish distressed by current events are you?

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— Dr. Paula R. Curtis (@paularcurtis.bsky.social) Aug 3, 2024 at 11:29 AM

Long Weekend Links

Monday is, of course, US Labor Day and I”ll also be gone Tuesday (Doc’s usual day off)  to go have one last adventure of the summer. See you Wednesday!

1. Japanese bathhouse cutaway illustrations? That’s a combo of words that I will immediately click on. Check out Isometric Drawings of Sento, Kissaten and other Japanese Establishments by Honami Enya.

 

2. Herman Melville probably worked as a pinsetter in a bowling alley in Honolulu? This 2019 NY Review article gives the evidence and a lot of the history of bowling. (Archived link to get around their paywall.)

 

3. I can’t stop watching this:

 

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