Part 2 of a running list of things I'm interested in.
Originally posted 5/1/2023 on Substack
Back in early March, I mentioned about keeping a running list of interesting things I found. While I’m still keeping at it, the list got a little unruly and there were periods where I couldn’t keep track of what I found when. Despite the haywire occurrence, I now have March and April 2023 accounted for and here are some highlights of interest.
Free silver and bimetallism (added Mar. 3) – While looking up a list of famous speeches, one that came up was the “Cross of Gold” speech by Williams Jennings Bryans at the 1896 Democratic Convention. The speech, which helped Bryans secure the nomination for President against eventual winner William McKinley, focused on rejecting the gold standard in favor of keeping silver as money on-demand. Reading through this, I’m not fully certain I understand what was going on here but its still interesting to read about what was Important to people almost 125 years ago.
Yé-yé music (added Mar. 4) – Was listening to a yé-yé (i.e., 60s French pop music) playlist and wanted to find out more about the genre.
Alcee Hastings (added Mar. 6) – While reading through an old almanac from 1998, I noticed that Hastings was one of the only high-level federal officials to actually be both impeached and removed. Did that stop him from returning to politics? Nope – he became a U.S. Representative later on and remained so until his death in 2021.
Amino acids (added Mar. 7) – I’ll let the fine folks at Kurzgesagt cover this one:
Crashed Ice tour (added Mar. 16) – This looks both painful and amazing to watch.
Prophet-5 synth (added between Mar. 20-30) – Don’t remember why I added this but reading about synthesizers is a thing I enjoy doing.
Droodles (added between Mar. 20-30) – A series of cartoons drawn during the 1950s by the creator of Mad Libs, they hold up pretty well 70 years later. Most famous one was used by Frank Zappa for his album with “Valley Girl”.
Use of "thou" in English (added Mar. 31) – I’m a language nerd and this scratched an itch I’ve had for a while.
History of anarchism (added Apr. 1) – Went down a rabbit-hole last month reading about anarchism, particularly about the Wobblies. Whatever you do, do not mistake it for “anarchy.”
Games Magazine (added Apr. 13) – The Internet Archive has the first 100 issues available. Some things haven’t aged well (all the cigarette ads) but the puzzles still seem fun to do.
Great potoo (added Apr. 15) – My spouse told me about these weird birds and I thought I’d share them with you all too.
Punk zines and fanzines (added Apr. 18 & 19) – I got obsessed with the idea of maybe making Ars Nihil zines. Interest has waned by this point (printing costs would be too much) but I might revisit it some time in the future, especially once I get back to the DC area.
Agua fresca and its many flavors (added Apr. 22) – Having gone through a No Alcohol period last year, I found that I really like agua frescas. It’s one of those things I wish I had discovered for myself 10 or so years ago and am finally catching up on, especially the horchata.
And so, onto May and June…