- Here are the best photos taken with an iPhone this year. (IPPA)
- This piece—about the “radical courage” of Simone Biles exiting the Olympic finals is very smart and right on the money, I think. (New Yorker)
- If you’re feeling cranky or sad today, do give this a try. (Kottke)
- 40 under-appreciated movies on Netflix (Vulture)
- This piece, on what various people are never spending money on again, post-Covid, amused me. (The Cut)
- Check out these vintage photos of flappers with rouged and decorated knees—they’re kind of like proto-tattoos. (Messy Nessy Chic)
- A collection of Sylvia Plath’s recipe cards, love letters, tarot cards and so much more just sold for over a million dollars. What a fascinating trove. (Sotheby’s)
- This piece—about a famous sommelier who might be setting fire to NYC’s dining huts—is just wild. (Grub Street)
- “Mistakes are a part of the dues one pays for a full life,” and more quotes from Sophia Loren. (Vogue)
- David Bowie really did have the best costumes. (Dangerous Minds)
Bread machines went on sale this summer, when everyone stopped baking again. Make your own pizza dough, ready in 90 minutes. Then let it age in the fridge for 24 hours. Artisan pizza for pennies.
I hope it’s okay if I leave a little note for Viajera to spot sometime this weekend. Viajera, you kindly sympathized a while back for a tension headache I had. Because of TMJ, tension headaches have long been a regular part of my life. I do physical therapy exercises, wear a prescription bite guard at night, all the prevention/management measures. This all relates to a little story about how we shouldn’t always assume the worst. Some years back, I discovered and LOVED the series Broad City. However, I came to the difficult decision that I had to stop watching it because they were too funny. I would laugh so hard that I would require muscle relaxers for my jaw after each episode. I realized that my body, and muscle relaxer supply, could not handle how funny they were. The human brain is designed to have a negative bias for primal survival reasons. I understand why Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer probably asked themselves as writers if an episode was funny enough instead of asking, “Are we perhaps too funny? Are we the Chuck Yeager of comedy? Could the sheer brilliance of our comedy be too much for the frail human form? Are we so funny that it hurts?” So, while we have to acknowledge and prepare for the worst, it’s nice to remember that there are Abbis and Ilanas being the Chuck Yeager of comedy, despite a forbidding sky. Anyway, hope you have a good weekend, Viajera, and stay cool.
Hi D.! Wow, that sounds like an amazing show, it sounds like I need to watch it. I am really sorry about the headaches … I am grateful though that they do not affect *your* sense of humor! I have heard of Chuck Yeager of course but I am going to go google what he means. It is a giant bummer that laughing should cause you pain – how else are we supposed to live through this weird period of time? I think you are right about keeping hope alive. I think it still is. I hope so anyhow.
Chuck Yeager’s achievement is beyond normal human capacity: most people would literally black out getting close to that threshold. So, the two ladies in question, comedy-wise, achieve a level of comedy that breaks the barrier of already-high expectations, and also, pushes the capacity for laughter. I still have to restrain myself remembering a scene involving Amy Sedaris as a realtor. Anyway, they’re being too funny is a good problem to have, like the time I got as a gift several pounds of filet mignon and had to figure out the different ways to cook filet mignon one summer.
Should be “their being funny”! I keep telling myself it’s my summer brain at work and that my spelling will improve in cooler weather!
Oh, well, I didn’t even notice! so, me too!
Yes, thanks, Kim (and all GOACA ) for every bit of joy during this week of bleak Covid news. I’m encouraged that there’s increasing interest in a new Federal Writers’ Project, especially in light of the most recent WPA-inspired portrait.
https://www.popmatters.com/weiland-wisley-state-by-state
Whew — bring on the update!
Always links to intrigue us! Have a great weekend everyone!!
Here’s a link to an article in today’s Guardian about fast fashion: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/jul/29/the-truth-about-fast-fashion-can-you-tell-how-ethical-your-clothing-is-by-its-price
thank you for posting the stand here for dance party link. I was crying with joy.
Me too!!
Made me cry too…and why I love NYC…My daughter just moved, so I won’t make out to visit as often. I loved staying in her tiny studio apt and exploring.
Thank you for the links, interesting as always.
Yes, I needed it! Been reading (too much?) up on the Delta variant in a time of schools reopening with unvaccinated under-12 kids. Not super happy about my kid heading back in a couple weeks.
hi Kim! I hope you’re having a good day! So, one of my posts got eaten the other day, I think? is there a rule about putting up comments with links in them? I want to be a polite visitor here. Or maybe the machine ate it. Or, I could have forgotten where I put it…
The dance party changed the course of my day for the better. I just need to know what people are not spending money on anymore though …firewall.
Half the links required a New Yorker subscription. I already NYT/WaPo/Wall St/local rag subscriptions so I can’t really shell out for another fluff subscription and afford the occasional Maria Conejo firesale. I support journalism, but all Vulture, the Cut, Grub Street etc articles are for New Yorker paid customers only. And I don’t live in New York. Can someone sum up?
Hi Themis — I can’t sum up because I’ve already read all my allotted free articles from New York mag, which I think owns Vulture, the Cut, etc. The New Yorker is separate, though also limited in the number of free articles it allows). Sorry not to be of help.