“Ocean, n. A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man — who has no gills.”
― Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary
What a week, kittens. Work has been mental in my new role (pleasantly challenging…but still mental) and this week the apartment above us decided to spring a leak or twelve. To cut a long story short, we have water damage in almost every room of our house and multiple light fixtures disconnected from the electrical supply to avoid murdering us in our sleep. It’s been emotional and sleep deprived au chez Small Dog this week
This weekend I’m writing, cleaning up the mess from said aquatic shenanigans and catching up on work emails. I also intend to force myself to exercise, which will clash with my other intention to lounge and read. Here is your weekly batch of reading, let’s catch up in the comments!
A queen has passed. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Stop teasing us with the possibility and just make him Bond, you cowards!
It is very interesting to watch the White House struggle to cope to Omarosa’s media circus. On the one hand, she is a deeply unreliable narrator…but so is almost everyone else in the administration at this point. And it’s difficult to know how to position the story because she’s released audio: she has receipts. What else might she have recorded? Setting aside the HUGE national security implications (which is bad, let’s be clear), no one wants to deny an allegation only to be proved a liar. Secret recordings have become a theme in this administration…
We all thought we were watching an episode of “The Apprentice” but it turns out it was actually “The Mole.”
— Tamara Keith (@tamarakeithNPR) August 15, 2018
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On Wednesday the White House fixed on it’s retaliation policy or at least an attempt to shift the media narrative…by revoking the security clearances of a whole bunch of other people who are security experts and have been critical of the current administration, who are not Omarosa. Cool. That makes sense./s Reporters noted that the original statement on the revocation was dated to late July and when asked about it, the White House issued a new statement with the date removed. So either their comms team is ridiculous, or the administration has been sitting on this a while. Either way, the national bench team of experts who can be called up to assist in a national emergency, has now been reduced. I’m not even going to touch the question of whether or not Mr. Trumps sneering Twitter tirades towards his reality TV protégé are racist. His racism has been well documented for forty years, whether there is a tape of him using racial slurs or not. A Klan leader has endorsed him, white nationalists chant his name. What else do you people need?
These books were so good and so much fun. I hope the movies are good! (The fashion is going to be appropriately extra and Constance Wu’s beauty game is just *chef’s kiss.*)
This week in corruption-is-normal-now news: the shadow administrators of the VA.
I loved this designer’s feature.
Jeff sent me this tweet because, “It made me think of you.” That is love, I think:
Judith Beheading Holofernes – Caravaggio, 1599-1602 pic.twitter.com/7NSRtWUM20
— Zach Whalen (@SuperWhalen) August 15, 2018
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An 11-year-old hacker was able to change an election result in competition. Which bodes SUPER WELL for the country.
Let’s talk more about masculinity! The Wayfarer YouTube channel did an interesting series on masculinity which I enjoyed watching and hope to similar media of more widely. Episode 1, 2, 3, and 4. (Creator and actor Justin Baldoni gave a good Ted Talk on this as well.)
A positive outcome from this heatwave!
Wow. It is not every day your uncle writes an op ed to call out your genealogical bullshit.
He hires the best people.
X sent me this piece and felt surreal to read, almost as if I had stumbled across a sort of (much more brilliant and articulate) cultural mirror image. I haven’t been able to string together my thoughts on being a third culture kid who feels a bit adrift between Brexit Britain and Trump’s America….but clearly I don’t need to because this woman handles the conflict (or at least the writing of it) deftly.
Katarina’s book drop is coming and you can enter to win an ARC here. It’s stupid good, guys, trust me on this!
I failed to share this last week, but Big Freedia and Lizzo’s latest single has a music video. It’s a bop and who doesn’t love some NOLA bounce in high summer?!
Small Dog Syndrome 
Gnashing teeth….the Mead piece about going back to England is a story I’ve been trying to sell, with no success. I have a Canadian passport and can get an Irish one as well. I would feel quite panicked without my 2-4 x/yr trips back to Canada (sanity! civility!) We have been discussing whether or not to re-patriate, but it’s complicated…All my pals are in Toronto, which, like London, has absurdly priced real estate plus a long and very dreary winter I was glad to flee in 1986 for good.
I also love our home and our town. We enjoy a much better quality of life, and many more work opportunities, here in NY than we would in Ontario. I loathe Trump and his filthy minions…but is it enough to push out? With a green card, this is an issue for me as well.
I’d have loved to even put my thoughts together well enough to pitch a piece like this, but I loved Mead’s piece even though it felt surreal to read.
It would be overreacting in my case to flee a country due to one man (not matter how loathsome) and his goons…but what if you see longer term trends you don’t like? What if you’ve always felt slightly “other,” even in your own nation? What if, when you try and picture it, you and your partner have no idea where you’d even want to try and live? We are going to start the residency process here in the UK in the foreseeable future…but Brexit has complicated the benefits of this considerably, even as we push towards it. We value the option of multiple homelands.
It’s complicated — as you and I have discussed.
I was ALWAYS being told “Oh, you must be American” when I lived in Canada — for being too direct, driven, decisive. I thought, fine, I’ll go to the States and fit in better there, which in some ways (esp. in NYC) I have.
BUT…I am also so disgusted by U.S.’s rampant corporate greed, no social safety net, stagnant wages and apparent impotence to change any of that. I voted with my feet by heading south but wonder now how wise it is to pay taxes for things I have no faith in.