Category: microposts Page 1 of 73

a stray line from a George Packer essay in the latest Atlantic (on Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain) perfectly sums up how I think of what happened on Nov. 5 (emphasis mine):

We live in an age of human self-contempt. We’re hardly surprised when our leaders debase themselves with vile behavior and lies… when free people humiliate themselves under the spell of a megalomaniacal fraud.

the exodus (X-odus?) continues: Why the Guardian is no longer posting on X

we will no longer post on any official Guardian editorial accounts on the social media site X (formerly Twitter). We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives … The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.

to America: congratu-fucking-lations, you dumb sons of bitches
to the world: sorry; a lot of us did what we could

our neighbor’s sign, blown down by natural forces and facedown in the dirt – just as I hope that campaign ends up a week from now 🇺🇸🗳️🙏

via the latest newsletter from author Elif Batuman (this edition provocatively titled, “On Being Butthurt”), announcement of a Harris-Walz fundraising Zoom featuring a pretty darn impressive array of authors 📚🇺🇸

hey, nice date today. 10/10, no notes

a frankly staggering number of songs from a lot of excellent artists, all proceeds to flood relief in western North Carolina: Cardinals at the Window. $10 (or more) 🎵

I found this entirely inspirational (and the brilliant slogan didn’t hurt): ‘Because secondhand is feckin’ grand’: how clothes swapping became huge in Ireland

his ability to say this kind of thing is just absolutely mind-blowing to me:

“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country – both from the inside and out,” Trump told Fox News Digital.

“These are people that want to destroy our country,” he added. “It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat.”

best spice shop page I’ve ever read: Penzeys

From the environment, to racism, to health, to saving our democracy at home & growing it abroad, half the time Republicans are intentionally blocking the solution to the problems we face. The other half of the time they are the problem we face.

Ken Paxton, doing the nasty, anti-democratic thug work that Republicans feel they must do to maintain power: suing to stop voter registration drives

I’d love The Guardian even if it weren’t, but sometimes its extreme Britishness just makes me happy

Baldwin added that [RJK Jr.’s] entire run “was a Hail Mary” – a phrase often used to describe a pass thrown in desperation but with little chance of success in the game of American football.

I finished the book Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. it was great! this book threw me in at the deep end, but was worth learning to swim in. gripping and fun 📚

a friend convinced me to subscribe to Peacock for the Olympics & it’s been great. we don’t have to settle for whatever NBC decides to show (or interrupt, or switch away from, etc.). we can put on, say, track & field replays, & off it goes 📺 (& hell yes I paid for commercial-free)

we’ve started posting weekly images of Mary’s artwork to her website. you can follow @maryg (on Micro.blog), or use RSS, or subscribe to get emails (also weekly). we want to share her work with everyone, so you’re invited regardless of whether or how well you knew her 🎨

Movement Voter Project puts up a call for help:

we need to invest at the same level we did in 2020… or at a higher level because everything costs more… while polling & enthusiasm is much worse

MVP builds local orgs for the long run, regardless of this year’s candidates. you can help 🇺🇸

new project from Molly White: Follow the Crypto; nice intro & explanation in her latest newsletter:

Did you know that the cryptocurrency industry has spent more on 2024 elections in the United States than the oil industry? More than the pharmaceutical industry?

happy first of the month, when we all switch our single AirPod usage from one ear to the other to keep the battery wear even. July is an odd-numbered month so as we all know that means it’s Left’s turn again

I love this, from Wikipedia: Well he would, wouldn’t he?, “referred to as Mandy Rice-Davies Applies (MRDA)”

[asked during the trial] whether she was aware that Lord Astor had denied having an affair with her; Rice-Davies replied “Well he would, wouldn’t he?”

I really like this idea from Cal Newport that social media is ultra-processed content, analogous to ultra-processed food:

the users of social media platforms simulate something like the food scientist’s ability to break down corn and reconstitute it into hyper-palatable edible food-like substances

Mike Masnick argues that social media can’t be inherently harmful, saying, “The complaints here are with speech.” but while Doritos & Pepsi are (technically) food, that doesn’t mean they’re good for you

another day of Euros, another Ukraine game bizarrely not being shown on any of Fox’s channels. I know it’s paranoid thinking, but I can’t help wondering whether that’s a coincidence from a broadcaster that’s shown perfect willingness to cozy up to the likes of Russia in 2018 & Qatar in 2022 ⚽️

new post: 600 Words About 1,000 Words, in which said writing stunt is found to have been worthwhile (and, thankfully, behind me) 📝

and… scene! I stopped posting it daily, but I did it: I wrote a thousand words a day for two weeks (Ulysses tells me it’s actually a total of 14,606). I’m glad I did it but I’m glad it’s done. now to figure out what’s next 📝 #1000WordsOfSummer

me, finishing Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club: that was great. I wonder if they’ll make a movie of this

Wikipedia: YA THINK?

Spielberg’s production company bought the global film rights… Osman confirmed… that Helen Mirren would play Elizabeth, Pierce Brosnan would play Ron, & Ben Kingsley would play Ibrahim

📚🍿

another day, another thousand words: 1,011 today, in which I finally got to make the silly, obscure reference I set up from the start (“better head back to 10-SE, Jed”) 📝 #1000WordsOfSummer

I didn’t get around to posting it yesterday, but I did write: 1,072 words. today, too: 1,016 words. clearly stopping just as soon as I cross the word-count line, but no apologies. six days down, eight to go 📝 #1000WordsOfSummer