While this one is covering links and videos I found throughout May, this is going to be the first of (hopefully) a new set of posts that’ll collect all the ephemera I’ve found each month. The posts going forward are going to be done in half-month increments [1], so that they don’t become too much for each one. There’s nothing important about any of these – just sharing what I’ve found. [2]
Also, some side notes:
While much of what’s shown here was published during May 2023, there’s also a good number of old things. Everything linked is based on the fact I read/watched/listened to it during the past month.
Nothing is presented in any particular order.
These links are posted mostly without comment. If I have anything to note about it, there’ll be an end note referenced. Otherwise, all opinions found in these links are strictly those of their creators and definitely not my own or necessarily shared by me.
Most of these links should be safe-for-work but always use your best judgement.
Also providing some visuals I've pulled from Tumblr, back when I used it during 2013-2016. [3]
Everything is provided after the picture and page break below:
"150 Extra Engineers" (artist unknown)
Articles
"Vacant skyscrapers, empty trains: can San Francisco once again reinvent itself?" - Isabeau Doucet (The Guardian)
"The Ether Dreams of Fin-de-Siècle Paris" - Mike Jay (The Public Domain Review)
"The Last Big Gamble of Tokyo Joe" - Dan O'Sullivan (Chicago Magazine)
“You Should Keep a House Diary” – Amanda Blum (Lifehacker)
“Running a Movie Theater Is More Expensive Than You Can Possibly Imagine” – Brian Welk (IndieWire)
“The Search for My Kimchi” – Alvin Chang (The Pudding)
“Liberalism’s Two Sides” – George Scialabba (The Nation)
“The Language of Democracy” – Max Ridge (Dissent)
“Reading books is not just a pleasure: it helps our minds to heal” - Peter Leyland (Psyche)
“The New New Reading Environment” – The Editors of n+1 (n+1)
“More radical and practical than Stoicism – discover Shugendō” - Tim Bunting (Aeon)
"Armageddon" - Julian Shapiro
"He Predicted the Dark Side of the Internet Over 30 Years Ago. Why Did No One Listen?" - Reed Albergotti (The Washington Post)
"Puritanism took over online fandom — and then came for the rest of the internet" - Aja Romano (Vox)
"J.S. Mill vs the Post-Liberals" - Richard V. Reeves (Persuasion)
"I Get No Mail and It’s Glorious" - David Friedman (Ironic Sans)
"Adult Fandoms Are Driving the Lego Market to New Heights" - Marah Eakin (Dwell)
"Amis, Hitchens and Larkin: bad behaviour and a messy personal life were once a gift for authors. Not any more" - Martha Gill (The Guardian)
Listicles & How-To Guides
How to Play Chess (New York Times)
An Illustrated Guide to Mouth Gestures and Their Meanings Around the World (The MIT Press Reader)
21 Native American Foods You Should Try At Least Once (Tasting Table)
25 Legendary Rock Albums with No Weak Songs (Loudwire)
The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time (Rolling Stone)
“It’s Been 14 Years Since I Went to Culinary School—These Are the Lessons I’ll Never Forget” (Food52)
Where Do Great Ideas Come From? (The Generalist)
65 Greatest Horror Movies of the 21st Century (Rolling Stone)
31 Best Bread Recipes (Tasting Table)
Permaculture 101: A Hacker’s Guide to Thinking Sustainably and Designing Sustainable Gardens (Hacker Noon)
Essential Knots: How to Tie the 20 Knots You Need to Know (Outdoor Life)
The Greatest Independent Films of the Twentieth Century (The New Yorker)
38 Treats Grandma Always Has In The Cookie Jar (Southern Living)
The Best Food Halls In The US (Mashed)
50 Essential LGBTQ Movies (Rolling Stone)
How to throw fantastic parties (elle’s substack)
21 Strange and Ingenious Uses for WD40 (Field & Stream)
21 Specialty Food Shops You Need To Visit In The US (Tasting Table)
200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time (Rolling Stone)
"Le Cahier Bleu" - Andre Juillard
Notes
[1] The next post will be around June 16, 2023 covering June 1-15, the one afterwards around July 1, 2023 for June 16-30, etc.
[2] If you’re curious where I’ve been finding these, they’ve mostly been from rabbit-hole searches courtesy of Digg, Pocket, Arts & Letters Daily, Fucking Homepage, and Facebook, plus whatever else pops into my orbit at any given time.
[3] Credit given as much as possible to these pictures but if there's an issue, let me know and I'll make the necessary changes.
Videos
"Why This Art Is In Every Hair Salon" (Nerdwriter)
A video essay about who Patrick Nagel was and why his illustrations defined both the 1980s and nail salons across the country.
"The Biggest Lie About Veganism" (ASAPScience)
More nuanced than the title indicates, the ASAPScience guys covers the consequences of going vegan when it comes to protein and vitamin intakes.
"The Year of Yuasa" (Beyond Ghibli)
Watched several anime films during May on HBO Max from different directors to calm my stress - Belle directed by Mamoru Hosoda, Weathering with You directed by Makoto Shinkai, and two from this video's subject: Masaaki Yuasa. Hosoda and Shinkai's movies were both pretty good but a little too saccharine sometimes (yet the climax in Belle made my hair stand on end in the best possible sense). Yuasa's movies, though, are something completely different. Like, REALLY different.
This video essay does a good job explaining what you'd be getting into if you check his work out. One of the two I watched is covered here accurately (2017's Night is Short, Walk On Girl) but it's a little hard for me to recommend personally since I found it too choppy and cringeworthy at times (amazing visuals, though, and definitely not what I expected). The other one I saw - 2019's Ride Your Wave - would definitely be recommended and throws you for a loop in a bittersweet way.
Genndy Tartakovsky Answers Animation Questions From Twitter (WIRED)
Pretty self-explanatory. If you know Tartakovsky's work, you know he's a master in his field and would give great advice on animation.
"Are We All Snobs Now?" (Wisecrack)
I've been called a snob so many times but I'd like to think of myself as a Highly-Opinionated Critic instead (note that this all said with sarcasm). I've also been mainlining a lot of Wisecrack's recent videos lately but I liked hearing about the philosophy on "snobbery" especially.
Playlists
The songs posted here were added to my main playlist during May 2023. Nothing major to discuss here - just liked these songs when I heard them out and about.
I've also been catching up on my podcasts, so adding all 6 episodes from my current favorite (Behind the Bastards) on the awfulness of WWE head honcho, Vince McMahon. Warning: those are most definitely NSFW and should be listened with earphones on...