I hope this Summer Friday finds you well
and not acknowledging the dwindling of farmstand season
I will not write a book over Labor Day Weekend (probably!) but I will try to start and finish a stack of little projects that have been languishing for most of the summer, interrupted by tomato sandwich and corn-on-the-cob breaks. In case you need some breaks from your own projects/grilling/beach lounging/catching up on sleep/appreciating the labor movement, here are a bunch of things I’ve read recently:
whoooooooo, feeling personally attacked, etc. I both agree with all of that (I think?) and also, whatever; I like reading nice words. More reading opportunities of more nice words, please.
my longstanding professional-ish headshot is, lol, a 2017 selfie taken in one of the Kendall Square Google office’s bathrooms because the mirror lighting was so good it struck even me, someone hopelessly incapable of taking selfies 98% of the time. anyway I love a good, well-lit, well-designed bathroom.
I think we’ve probably all had this thought, assuming we have any thoughts of our own at this point. Related: this is like the 4th mention of Kony and Harambe I’ve seen in the last month; is that where the nostalgia loop is currently stuck?
the algorithm puts a lot of Luke into our youtube recs (I’m not mad; he seems like a nice kid), and now he’s the subject of a piece in the BBC
I’m an unapologetic Hop-On-Hop-Off* bus fan; if we go somewhere new together I will absolutely recommend (or demand) we take one of these tours
it’s a new natural law of enterprises that your cloud computing unit will be unimaginably profitable within a few years: possibly eclipsing (but not cannibalizing) your core business. it is a little bit bananas, though, when that core business is groceries?
hot takes on hot buttered lobster rolls. for once I agree with the WSJ’s posture on a topic: hot [buttered] lobster rolls are superior to cold [mayo salad] lobster rolls. and you know a casual waterfront seafood place is legit if it has directions for arriving by boat and separate directions for arriving by dinghy—although having a multi-page website, with actual information on it, does kinda make it less legit.
I have always loved matchbooks, although I don’t use matches for anything and honestly a big part of it is because I’m really bad at lighting them and very afraid I’ll burn myself — or more likely, drop them and singe the floor. But I have very warm fuzzy memories of sifting through various relatives’ collections of mid-[twentieth-]century matchbooks from white tablecloth restaurants and tiki bars (and probably like, laundromats and schools; what are lungs anyway?). So this delights me and makes me glad that I keep hanging onto the large display jar full of matchbooks from Cambridge-area restaurants (which, upon review, mostly shuttered for good during the pandemic, intensifying the nostalgia).
I can’t decide if this list is performance art or if I just have no taste/haven’t seen a lot of apparently great movies? likely both.
thanks I LOVE IT 😍😍😍 (and I’m actively making plans to go to the Present & Correct shoppy shop)
please please please let this be a teaser to Bad Blood II
emphasis mine in the following pull quote from this one (which is actually weirdly hopeful, in a nihilistic-hope kind of way?):
The most important thing was using Gamergate to redefine a misogynistic, male-focused type of conservatism that did not rely on Christianity,” says Ryan Broderick, who writes the newsletter Garbage Day. “In a bunch of different ways, Gamergate radiates the world that we're in now.”
I enjoyed this review in that** it definitely headed me off from reading a book that might induce my first real migraine. also please get off my lawn.
idk isn’t the answer to every question these days just “trad wife”?
[possibly, but also] the answer is: “Beware the male financial gurus who build their empires on the backs of the uncompensated labor of women.”
it’s nearly impossible to google for anything anymore, part 576837458
grown in a lab focused on things that would tempt me to subscribe
I can read and enjoy all of the terms in this but I think there is a completely different definition of 84% of the words used. *adds Scampi Fries to never-ending “London to-do” list***.
I’m going to try this?
one of my favorite categories of writing is “prestige magazine profile of [or around] Justin Bieber” (see previous); sadly I missed this amazing 2017 piece [described by Allison P Davis in another worthwhile interview as a “great Montclair story about the summer Justin Bieber was living there that read like a demented Bye Bye Birdie”]. Rumors about Biebs buying a house with Olmstead landscaping; sightings at the local ice cream shops; teen boyfriends begging their girlfriends to pay attention to them rather than stalking the new heartthrob in town! I truly don’t care if it’s entirely made-up; it is wonderful.
* I’m not acknowledging the “Hoho” acronym in that piece
** I mostly appreciated that it reminded me of Patricia Lockwood’s The Communal Mind, which is eternally good for a re-read
*** the inevitable Trader Joe’s version of this will be accessible, but inedible (please don’t tell me if this already exists)