Category: Humor

Friends, Humor, Travel

Three Days in Naples

“Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

I’m finally getting around to sharing some of our travel escapades from earlier this year–all of which have been a lot less planned and organized that we probably intended. Jeff’s done a friend’s birthday in Denmark, I’ve had a last-minute jaunt to Italy, and my brother’s wedding was organized on about three month’s notice, so it’s not been a year of grand escapes so much as trying to fit in what we can. But we’ve had some good times nonetheless…even if we want to take a solid two weeks off for Christmas!

So, why did I flit off to Naples earlier this year with less than a month to plan you ask? Simple:

X and I had an anniversary to celebrate: our 20 year Friendiversary. We met 20 years ago, at a weeklong summer camp arranged by our then-church. I had just moved to Virginia from Texas and she from Scotland. We were both military brats, Air Force to be specific, and we had what L.M. Montgomery once immortalized as a “kindred spirits.”

X is older than me by a couple of years and has always held the role of best friend and older sister. She has been a constant in my life for two decades and though our lives have not mirrored, they have flowed alongside one another without stopping. We went to the same university, both experienced a great faith change, have changed careers multiple times, struggled in the hustle and grind of the world’s biggest cities, laughed, and cried.

She’s one of the great loves of my life, and I fully intend that she and I will be frolicking along until a ripe old age.

Our agenda was not complicated. Hours of talking, eating our bodyweight in pizza and wine, all the local coffee and baked goods we could reasonably consume, beauty and perfume boutiques, and nerdery. We exceeded every single goal

Fulfilling a lifelong ambition, she indulged me in a day in Pompeii.

I was incredibly relaxed and not at all bugging out about the whole thing.

Pompeii is easily accessible by public rail from the city center and incredibly visitor friendly. There are comprehensive maps which can point you to the more famous tourist spots, or you can simply wander to your heart’s content. We did a bit of both

I truly didn’t understand the scale of Pompeii until I got to wander through it. I’ve been fortunate to visit a lot of cultural heritage sites and ruins in my life, but this is another scale when it comes to completeness. Roman grafiti have been preserved and restored on the walls. Shop stalls are set up as they were on the day of the catastrophe. Homes and gardens are laid out in ways that are perfectly understandable and accessible to a modern viewer.

Two girlfriends, both alike in dignity…

I cannot over recommend the Airbnb route. X and I decided to do this trip on something of a whim and within one frantic Google Docs and call session had arranged for dirt cheap flights and a place to stay fairly locally. Like many cities, Naples has a thriving non-hotel market (which is admittedly causing other challenges for local industries) and there are excellent options at a variety of pricepoints. We saved money by going for a cheaper one bedroom joint that allowed for late night chats reminiscent of our teenage sleepovers, and a killer view of Mount Vesuvius. Get a local pad, stock up on coffee, bread, cheese, and fruit, and spend your money travelling or shopping.

The whole city is gorgeous, a mix of ancient and modern, gritty and grand.

We were lucky enough to stumble across a church which also functions as a museum which happened to be housing a Chagall exhibition–X’s favorite artist. Of course we took it in, and we fell head over heels in love with their resident (official) mouser:

And ducklings…the pizza! Naples is widely considered the birthplace of pizza as we know it and there are a million local joints with their local fans and factions, all willing to do battle over which reigns supreme. PERFECT if you’re a visitor whose only goal is try EVERYTHING. My favorite was a fairly modest looking, hole-in-the-wall family restaurant which just happened to hold a well-deserved Michelin star.

Our last night in town we stopped by an antique bookseller which converted into a bar by night. It was the perfect place for a farewell hang.

I would, however, be remiss if I didn’t tell you that the airport contained not just one but two fully fledged cheesemongers. My kind of city!

 

Humor, Links, News, Politics, Pop Culture

Weekend Links

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
― Groucho Marx

Ducklings, another weekend is upon us and it has been a bonkers one. Short intro this week we have a lot to catch up on and discuss!

Honestly, SNL nailed it. And by “it” I mean my fears, the reality of the moment, and the correct chaotic energy.

I heartily love the phrase “yoga babble” and find it a very apt description.

RIP to an icon.

I’ve gone on a roller coaster in the run up to this film, first being excited by the idea of it, put off by the groundswell of toxicity that sprang up in the worst corners of the internet around it, and troubled by … Based largely on this review, I think I’ve circled back around to being fairly excited to see it. It seems very current to the times and for that reason, I’m interested. Jeff and I went to see Hustlers last week (bit of a weird segue, but walk with me) and afterwards I opined that it was the first film I’d seen since The Big Short that I felt was about our current era in a very deliberate way. It was certainly the first movie I’ve seen that expressed anger and a revenge fantasy for the past 10 financial years. Pop culture has been largely been centered in the realm of science fiction and fantasy (Marvel and Game of Thrones, anybody?) and avoidant of The Now. I know Joker is a comic book piece, but the themes it’s clearly tackling are all 2019.

Like catnip for Small Dog Nation.

I too am THIS many years old.

In fact, I’m getting too old for the new platforms of Kids These Days…how grim.

Of COURSE they are. Just get out of the way, peeps, and let the teen girls do their thing. They are 100% our best hope for the future.

Shaken or stirred?

DUH.

How is James Franco still allowed out in society?

Baby steps, I guess? I actually perversely hope that what this accomplishes is enough social cognitive dissonance to drive real social change for women.

You guessed it, I’m still not over this business story.

Content warning: this reporting from the New York Times is incredibly hard to read, and some people may not be able or wish to, but it’s important. The scourge of online abuse and sexual exploitation of children has exploded in recent years and our ability to track it, hold abusers to justice, and protect victims is fundamentally not scaling with the technical ability of the individuals and communities creating and spreading it. Here’s hoping that sunlight provokes change.

The political news will be summarised at the end of this post (to avoid my brain exploding) but this piece is worthwhile both because from what I’m seeing early on this week, most of the defense attempts of the administration’s behavior are trying to invoke an outright conspiracy theory. This needs to be understood, alongside the remembrance that the current president rose to political prominence and viability off the back of conspiracy theories. It’s simultaneously vital info, but will not dissuade those support him BECAUSE of conspiratorial views and not IN SPITE of them.

Meanwhile, some local reporting out of Wisconsin that has relevance not just to the state and a major local industry but also to America, the land of opportunity and where hard work definitely always pays off… “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out,” Perdue said. “I don’t think in America we, for any small business, we have a guaranteed income or guaranteed profitability.”

Ah, another British American cross over event. Our special relationship is not just about hairstyles, it’s about mutually punishing political foes. Cool.

In other British news…

Brexit is also going great, by the way.

We are a pro-bath family.

“Kirstjen, you didn’t hear me the first time, honey,” Mr. Trump said, according to two people familiar with the conversation. “Shoot ’em down. Sweetheart, just shoot ’em out of the sky, O.K.?” What. The. Fuck. I’m not talking about the alligator filled moat. I can’t.

QUEENS OF INFAMY UPDATE.

Maybe dudes should sit this one out, just generally.

What a beautiful essay from Zadie Smith.

AH. Nothing is new. We’ve circled back to his original desired endgame, back before he thought he would win.

The UK and the US are both reporting dramatic drops in native wildlife in recent decades. In case you wanted some cheery news this week…

LOLOLOLOL. This guy is SO bad at crimes. Her subtweet was perfect.

Who had “Ruin Whisky” on their 2019 bingo card?

At this point I will read anything by Amanda Mull, her beat of shopping, consumption, women’s perspectives, health and wellness is very much my jam. Her latest on how Forever 21 (but really a lot of other people in capitalism) underestimated the young folk, and women in particular, to simply not need them.

Who asked for this? Why? How did they do the math to identify this demographic?!

Oh, fuck off. Woke culture didn’t harm you, it’s making you rich. Shut up.

This week’s best Twitter profile.

Okay, this is moving unbelievably fast. *cracks knuckles*

Monday through Wednesday: let’s sum up the mess of conspiracy theorist trash, honest debates about nepotism we need to have–right alongside the discussion of bad faith defenses of corruption when it’s Your Guy we’re talking about, and wide ranging complacency/complicity that got us to this point. (This interview with the former Ukrainian prosecutor general is stunning, but it cuts through the noise quite a bit.)

Thursday: THERE it is, just saying the quiet parts out loud and betting that if he does it in broad daylight, he’ll get away with it. He may, depressingly, be right. Meanwhile, at the OTHER coverup…

Friday: a summary. Bleeding hell. A lot of aides have apparently been privately “horrified” at the President’s cavalier calls for a long time and decided to do fuck all about it. Profiles in courage.

Favorites, Humor

Five Things I Loved in September

“We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost.”
― Heny Rollins

September was a productive but exhausting month for Small Dog Headquarters and the news is enough to make anyone’s head spin. Here is a short list of the things that kept me sane, healthy, and laughing uproariously this month.

 

Schitt’s Creek

This month, in pop culture that C. is late to! Schitt’s’Creek had been on my list to catch up on for a long time and now I’m kicking myself for how long it took me to get around to it. This is a laugh-out-loud gem of a show! The premise is that a wealthy family loses everything and has to start over in the last asset they own, the eponymous rural Canadian town. Hijinks ensue.  Every single character is perfectly formed and standalone, and the inside jokes and interrelationships layer wonderfully throughout its so-far five seasons. There is apparently going to be a final, sixth season and I hope it wins every comedy award possible. Wacky, earnest, and fundamentally kind while still being extremely funny, it walks a very precise line for entertainment that’s hard to accomplish but very satisfying when pulled off.

The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

I devoured this retelling of the Trojan War myth in about two sittings and I cannot recommend it enough. The prose is wonderful. Madeline Miller crafts the world of ancient and mythological Greece in such a way that the Homeric legends are presented as present reality to the characters–gods and heroes fully included. It’s not over-glamorized in the way of TV or cinema when they try to depict the “swords and sandals” dramas; the ancient parts feel authentic and gritty. And yet, you aren’t at all surprised when a meddlesome goddess shows up to twist the mortals about, or one of Zeus’ many offspring are referenced. Told from the point of view of Patroclus, a romance grows, set against the backdrop of the west’s most famous war. I’m still to get my hands on Circe, the latest novel by the same author, but I’m more eager than ever to do so.

 

Grocery Delivery Services

Once again, I have to sing the praises of the very kind gentleman who drops of a box of fruit and veg to my door once a week. When I skipped the service the week before and of our move, I noticed an immediate change in my cooking and snacking habits–for much the worse. Now that it’s back up and running, I’m back to cooking and eating more fresh fruit and veg again and feeling tons better overall. Many urban environments have a lot of these services to choose from, but mine is Able & Cole.

 

Independent Movie Theatres

In Bermondsey there is a small theatre set behind a cafe and drinks bar off a historic square. It’s got about thirty red leather seats and the general closeness of the space makes it feel more like an over the top home theatre. It’s fantastic! Apparently it’s one of three similar theatres within bars or events spaces, and I cannot tell you how delighted I am to have such a joint in walking distance. We tried for the first time on a date night, but I’m already booking future tickets because not only does the theatre show new releases, it also is a venue for National Theatre broadcasts which show live or filmed viewings of West End productions. It’s a great way to see a show you may not have been able to catch in person.

 

Burberry Lipstick

An old favorite, but let me endorse the Burberry Lip Velvet in bullet and liquid lipstick form. I’ve started wearing the deep, deep burgundy color Oxblood in both formulas in celebration of the arrival of fall, and it’s the perfect option for anyone looking to feel just a bit witchy as the season changes!

Humor

October Moodboard

“Everybody sat in the dark cellar, suspended in the suddenly frozen task of this October game; the wind blew outside, banging the house, the smell of pumpkins and apples filled the room with smell of the objects in their fingers…”
– Ray Bradbury

October is a glorious month, it’s all moody weather and pleasant chill. The season of leather boots and chunky knits!

This month I’m going to focus on settling. September was all upheaval and change, October is (I’m hoping!) about slowing down, getting deliberate and mindful, and focusing on the things that provide a sense of stability. There’s going to be lots of food, a few classes, and hopefully a return to a more balanced approach to work and life. I’m pairing back…while still including pops of drama and color just to keep things interesting. So what if the fashion inspiration is from the midcentury and the eye makeup look I’m devoting myself to is from last winter. Find joy, ducklings!

On the To Do list are a local viewing of the original Fleabag stage show, leaving the office on time, and catching up on my library check out queue (which is out of control with all the news reading and podcast listening which has taken over my media life). What are you doing or looking forward to this October?

Humor, Links, News, Politics, Pop Culture, Weekend

Weekend Links

“If the spirit has passed through a great many sensations, possibly it can no longer be sated with them, but grows more excited, and demands more sensations, and stronger and stronger ones, until at length it falls exhausted.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Gambler

What a year this week has been…

General mood.

This is a short but really compelling TED talk and very well worth your time.

That’s a lot of Brits to repatriate in peacetime!

This headline should read, “Mr. Trump Tried It.” Ms. Thunberg was ready for the clapback, as you might have expected. Never tried to out-internet the children. They haven’t had to acclimate to this world the way we have, they are native users and they are SCARY. (Also, the sheer amount of adults trying to bully children is gross.)

Her murderous rampage continued and reader, I cackled!

Why traditional self-help narratives aren’t resonating with The Young Folk.

I think I’m pretty pleased about this, actually?

Thoughts?

Um, Atlantis, is that you?

Trickle. Down. Economics. Is. A. Lie.

I’m very stressed about this utterly trivial thing! Bite Beauty makes my hands down favorite lipsticks on earth and I’m nervous about and shakeups. Anyone want to buy me a handful of backups?

Fast Company has a couple of interesting stories this week about the perils of IPOs and the “gamechanging” companies in the news of late. This on was my favorite.

In a similar vein, Rent the Runway is also struggling.

Dame Helen Mirren, ladies and gentlemen! What an icon.

Hurrah for nice things, like beloved TV shows about being a good person.

Holy crap.

[ETA: the below updates were added as news broke this week…which was approximately every ten minutes]

HOLY CRAP. This change in stance came swiftly as a result of the cascading reporting on a whistleblower case. As the week progresses, the facts on the ground get weirder and worse for the administration. A “transcript” of the call was released by the White House, ostensible to explain how the call was not as bad as the media was making it out to be. It was considerably worse. Not only that, it transpired that the whistleblower complaint (which was also released) was about a much wider array of actions not just from the President, but included efforts by others to shield his actions from scrutiny and oversight.

Rudy Giuliani continued to act like a reasonable and sane person and in no way seemed to be trying to drag the actual State Department under the bus whence he is getting thrown. It’s okay, he was not the only one making mistakes. Snark aside, a lot of people from the State Department, to the Attorney General are implicated by this activity. Mr. Volker is the first to step down from a post, I can’t imagine he’s going to be the last.

Good lord, quid pro quo is something of a theme this week, eh? How do ANY of these men still have their jobs?

Call me petty, but I hope things are getting downright tense at headquarters.

And finally, a little levity for you all.

ETA AGAIN: HOLY. CRAP. Honest question, how did none of this come out previously? No whistleblowers, nothing in the Mueller report, nothing at all?

Goals, Humor

Year of Discipline: September

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”
― Louisa May Alcott

The Year of Discipline is three quarters over; how did September go?

General Motivation

Septmber was the Month of Getting Shit Done, kittens. Was it always as healthy or as efficient as it could have been? Nope. Did it get done regardless? Hell, yes. I actually feel momentarily caught up on work projects, settled into the new apartment, and more or less in charge of my brain. While I’ve not always felt that the Year of Discipline has been as successful a project as other annual themes, this month the habits and skills I’ve been cultivating for months now have helped break what could have been a really stressful month into much more manageable pieces.

 

Health

Exercise fell by the wayside again thanks to the move, and takeaway binges have not helped. I’d be lying if I said I was feeling good in my own skin this month, but that’s no one’s fault but mine. Perversely, our gym is now easier to get to so I have no excuse not to rectify this in October.

It’s not all bad. My new commute is quicker but actually involves more walking and our new apartment is on the third floor of a building with no lift so small lifestyle adjustments are working in my favor a bit. And about halfway through the month when I was able to start cooking again, it definitely made a difference in my general wellbeing. MUCH soup was made and consumed this month.

My mental health was mostly okay, with one really bad anxiety episode which was more debilitating than usual. Once I register with a new GP, I think this is going to be the next health project I tackle. I’m a million times more healthy in this respect than I was a couple of years ago, but it still controls too much of my brain and I’ve made as much progress as I think I’m going to be able to without professional help.

 

Financial

Let’s be blunt, money was tight this month! Between paying rent in two places, the costs of a move and setting up new utilities, and various associated fees, our bank accounts are frowning at us grimly. That being said, we knew this was coming and had prepared as best we could. Cash was king in September and was used in every situation possible. We spent too much on food because we had to move our kitchen in stages and it wasn’t until last week that I started fully cooking most of our meals again. Entirely too much takeaway has been consumed and we’ve mutually agreed to put the kibosh on all food delivery until about Thanksgiving.

It was also not an entirely virtuous month for shopping: I picked up a dress and two skirts from charity shops and then of course bought products from the newly launched Victoria Beckham beauty line. Then I had an oops moment at 282 Portobello Road when the estimable Claudia cut me a really, really good deal on a long-coveted Barbour wax jacket. I am but human, kittens!

Lest you think I’m detestable for my irresponsibility, we are being partially refunded for some parts of the immigration process (for Jeff at least, partners don’t get this benefit from his work) and I was paid a bonus this month. This got split across savings and debt payments in a heartily satisfying way. We are also due a return of our deposit from our previous apartment which will get the same treatment. The journey towards a significantly improved networth continues!

 

Grooming

A middling month for this, but I am finally wearing my hair down more and more, and thanks to work that has required me to be more client-facing than usual, I’ve had motivation to make more effort in my appearance. On the flip side, every single weekend has been a study in sweaty hair and yoga pants by contrast. We’re going to call September more good than bad overall. I’m delighted that fall has finally arrived. It’s easily my best and easiest season for dressing and I’m excited to pull out the jumpers and boots!

 

Other

We completed a house move!

Got my new passport.

Repotted my plants.

Read several books.

Stocked the kitchen.

 

Humor, Links, News, Politics, Pop Culture

Weekend Links

“We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost.”
– Heny Rollins

It’s the weekend, piglets! A short intro from me because I’m technically supposed to be on holiday…even through the reality of my job means I’m still doing a bunch of work this week, I’m annoyed to say. Hey ho, such is life. Jeff is in a similarly grim set of circumstances and we’ve agreed therefore that a long Christmas break, possibly to include foreign travel, will therefore be justified. Win some, lose some.

It’s a rainy sunday here, so that means I’m going to log off, make a couple of batches of soup, drink copious amounts of tea and alternate between Agatha Christie’s Poirot and my newest love, Schitts’ Creek by way of relaxation. Tell me your plans in the comments!

Happy weekend to JLo and literally no one else. This is what fashion and media types call “a moment.”

What an awful scam on every level, do not @ me.

One of the Founding Mothers of NPR has passed away. RIP Ms Roberts.

*screams into the void* I’m (sadly) not at all surprised by this at all, only angry and depressed. Sometimes I think about how the vast majority of sexual crime statistics track almost perfectly over my closets female friend groups and myself and I just want to set something on fire.

And as a follow up, the pertinent question. (My own question about what the Kavanaugh hearings really ask remains: are women acceptable collateral damage on someone else’s journey?)

Hook ’em on Shakespeare young.

This investigative piece on the harshness of live on the high seas (an excerpt from a forthcoming book) is hard to read but is evidence of how many industries have horrifically out of date practices and next to no labor protections. We’re not nearly as advanced as Silicon Valley would have us think, sometimes.

Hm. This seems super not great for us as a species…

I will read anything by Anne Helen Petersen, and we were blessed with another gem this week.

Seriously, guys. Let’s just try some ideas. Let’s run the experiments.

Highly relevant to my interests.

In case you’re looking for your next book read.

Smoking is bad, team. Smoke if you’re a grown up and damn well please, but there is no need to relitigate the health hazards.

I’m for Boleyn-core, 100%.

The kids are going to save us. They shouldn’t and we shouldn’t have to ask them to, but they are. And I hope that leaders around the world are doing a bit of demographic math in their heads in response to the images and headcounts of the marches this week. Kids grow up and they vote.

Data is fascinating, and useful. We need more of it and less punditry.

A pet theme of mine is how much I wish Americans could see their news through the lens of another nation’s media. It’s enlightening, whatever your political bent.

I know it’s only the latest in a long list, but this is a really serious allegation. In normal times, we would never even have gotten to this point, and yet here we are and I’m not convinced there will be any consequences. How bloody GRIM is that?

And finally, please enjoy my favorite new Twitter account.

Beauty, Humor

Empties

“The most beautiful makeup of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.”
― Yves Saint Laurent

Ducklings, you have been neglected of late. My apologies. This has been a rather hectic and not-at-all-restful summer with far too many big projects taking up all the space in my brain and most of my free time. However now that we’re a bit more settled, the blog shenanigans will recommence.

A fun one to get us back in the groove! In honor of the bathroom cupboards I cleaned out in anticipation of the move and my frantic attempts to devise a new means of storage in a new home, here’s another dive into the beauty products and items I’ve used to the last drop since my last update in April.

As mentioned, I love similar peeks into people’s cupboards and bags to see what they love and why. It’s also interesting to see how individual tastes or large trends change, and what we think is worth our money. As always, share your thoughts, questions, and eyerolls in the comments as you deem fit!

There is nothing like tracking how long it takes you to use makeup products to completion to help you curb your beauty spending. I went on a mostly-successful “no buy” challenge for the first half of the year because 1) I know beauty products are my vice and 2) in spite of this vice, I legitimately want to move towards a future where I simply own fewer items overall. It was humbling. Like many people I continue to simply own way too much, but more on this in future posts.

I finished off some seriously longwearing items since my last update, and ones in every single category. I finished a Lancôme stick foundation, the first of that type of product I’ve tried and one I ended up liking a lot more than I thought I would. It was really useful for work travel especially. Another bottle of Glossier You perfume was polished off–it’s a steady favorite but one I’m not repurchasing until I reduce my other perfumes down by at least two. Not just one but two lipsticks made their final bows one from MAC and one from Charlotte Tilbury, as well as two lip balms by Glossier and Bite Beauty. Finally, the eyes have it! I polished off a felt eyeliner by Tom Ford (easily one of the most expensive products I’ve got, especially for what it is. I regret to inform you that I liked it very much), another tube of Glossier Boy Brow, and a cream stick eyeshadow by ByTerry.

Long time minions will not be surprised by almost anything in the skincare pile, where tried and true favorites continue to reign supreme. From the drugstore the trust No 7 line cleaners remain an excellent option for balm and gel cleansers, and the Botanics brand produces a nearly 100% organic eye cream that I’ve enjoyed enough to finish twice and buy a third still sitting pretty in my cabinets. I also used a bottle of rosewater spray from Botanics which was perfect for summer, but I won’t be purchasing again until the weather heats up once more. Another micellar water, this time the French cult favorite Bioderma which I happened to pick up a bottle of whilst in France earlier this year and the Pixi Retinol toner which I tried. The Ordinary continues to make a great hyaluronic acid which is grand value for money and a lactic acid serum which is not a true dupe for the industry-leading Good Genes by Sunday Riley, but produces a similar effect over time based on similar ingredients. Finally, long-time favorites Glossier moisturizer and Thank You Farmer SPF retain their crowns.

And over in body and hair, once again no surprises. I still have never yet met a fancier body wash that I was willing to pay a “pink tax” or justify luxury prices for. Jeff and I share this and deodorant, as well as the St Ives scrub for body care (I would never use this on my face but Jeff does because he’s a heathen). Shampoo and conditioner over the past little while has been simply using up what I already had in the shower prior to a move, along with a fistful of travel sized products picked up from various hotels on work trips over the last few months. Utilitarian, but interesting to me to track both from a consumer and sustainability point of view. It’s a category of products that I’d like to find alternatives for that don’t break the bank.

And that’s our latest semi-annual dive into beauty usage. I’m sincerely considering another “no-buy” challenge to help me continue to use up more makeup products especially. It’s certainly a goal overall to continue to focus on the “reduce” part of “reduce, reuse, recycle.”

As always, I’m curious as to how your consumer habits have changed–and why–or how they have stayed constant–and why. Share in the comments, kittens!

Humor, Links, News, Politics, Pop Culture, Weekend

Weekend Links – Flying Flamingos Everywhere

“We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost.”
– Heny Rollins

Beloved kittens, I type this to you full of trepidation. Another co-worker has discovered this site and I suspect commentary or judgement will soon flow in full tilt.

Ah well, Small Dog Nation grows. (Hi, Tom!)

This week we continued to get the last straggling task from the move over the line and try to settle into a new home without any internet. A literal nightmare. However, I learned from the Evening Standard this week that as many as 20% of Britons don’t have or use internet and it gave me pause because–on an intuitive level, it rings true to me. I work in an industry now that pulls from many, many demographics and have learned that not all of them are “very online,” as the kids say. To me, this represents a potential manifestation of the growing discrepancies of access, opportunity, wealth, and education in society that we are all collectively becoming increasingly aware of. I’d be fascinated (and possible disturbed) to see current data on this for the US as well, where we know the urban/rural divide in particular includes access to internet services.

What interesting tidbit caught your attention this week? Share in the comments. Meanwhile, I’ve pulled together a smorgasbord of reading to get you through until Monday. The new continues awful, the pop culture varied, and beauty news surprisingly good.

McKay Coppins at The Atlantic has published his latest longform about the dynastic duelling within the next generation of Trumps as they try to position themselves to take over the family business…whatever that business happens to be. Thus far it’s been development and branding, but can political mantles be inherited? Thus far there are few successful examples of this in the US and those who have tried (Hillary and Jeb spring to mind) tend to be on the receiving end of good old fashioned American scepticism about dynasties.

Ha! My long-held pet social theory is given credence in this pretty impressive interactive piece from the New York Times: how politics and pop culture are colliding and entangling, and why that’s not really good for any of us.

What a beautiful piece of science and culture writing!

Excuse me, what? What doesn’t Tina Turner deserve?! (Full piece here.)

Sharpiegate continues because it was NEVER about the Sharpie. It was always about who Mr. Trump could bend to his narrative will, and at what institutional cost.

Bolton is out. I’m not surprised but I am cackling because of course Mr. Trump is not really a hawk and never has been. I think Mr. Bolton has done damage and I’m not sorry to see the back of him, but I also think the constant whiplash of what my country’s actually policies and approaches are across the world aren’t doing anyone any favors.

The absolutely wacky handling of the Taliban talks could not have helped. We’re just announcing international negotiations on Twitter now I guess…

Kind of like the reporting on the lifting of a major intelligence asset out of Russia, because we didn’t trust the president NOT to out them. We’re not usually supposed to hear about this stuff as the lay citizenry…

It’s the corruption, stupid. Once again, even the most charitable interpretation of these events is not great. The President is supposed to be surrounded by people who not only keep him from corruption but also help him avoid the shallow appearance of it!

My previous life in luxury property means I found this story fascinating: there is too much luxury property stock in NYC (and frankly London) and little prospect of sales at expected prices. This seems niche, but I think reveals a lot more about the economy of who we’re building for (right people) and why (investment, not housing). There’s a reason populism is on the rise.

Meanwhile, in Britain….(the Speaker gave the British Parliament version of a mic drop on the way out. For more context and less snark, see here). Britain and the US are stuck in a game of onedownsmanship, but they have us whipped on theatricality, it must be said. (ETA, the courts are now involved! It’s so ridiculous and messy.)

People can be trash, but they can also be kind of great. Both in one story.

Progress is not inevitable, but we are learning how change happens. It takes effort.

…and we might be up against our own evolutionary biology…

I really want to read this, but it’s going to be difficult.

The New York Times did another incredible interactive report on the flooding that has taken place across the US this year. It puts what appeared to my untrained and uninformed eye a series of isolated events into a much bigger pattern.

UGH. I didn’t want to link that That Story this week, and yet here we are. The thing that convinced me it was worth sharing (besides the viral nature of the story) was this take from Vox on what our collective fascination about female scammers might say about us as a culture.

The universe is not all malevolent, my treasures, for it is giving us more Phryne Fisher!

Victoria Beckham finally launched her eponymous beauty line and the first product drop was very on brand. As a devotee of the collections she did with Estee Lauder, I’ll be keeping an eye on developments.

It’s fashion week. Let’s unpack some relevant shit.

GOD. DAMN. IT. What a nauseating farce this whole thing was/is.

This piece is gorgeous. I’ll leave you with this tiny taster: “The mystery of cosmic asymmetry will always be the point at which an imaginary conversation with my brother about God would begin.”

I never thought I’d be engrossed in the niche world of chess, but this unusual way in hooked me.

“In the world of stand-up, where nothing’s valorized quite like edginess, Mulaney relishes his squareness to an almost defiant degree.” I’m a full on stan at this point.

Go on…

Humor, Links, News, Politics

Weekend Links, Moving Day Edition

“When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.” 
― Rodney Dangerfield

Kittens! I type the final notes on this week’s links drop to you from my absolutely madhouse of an apartment just before the movers show up. Please send prayers, votive offerings, or appropriately slaughtered sacrifices to your deity of choice on our behalf today. I leave you in the comforting arms of a nice bunch of reading material.

I cannot go into everything that happened in British politics this week, suffice to say it’s been BONKERS. I recommend The Guardian’s news podcast Today in Focus for several of their most recent episodes regarding the recent slings and arrows, but also their Brexit updates over previous months to try and catch up.

“Too much advice about going green involves pushing slightly less toxic alternatives to things we don’t particularly need, to distract us from thinking about whether they were necessary in the first place.”

More information on the Second Hand September campaign.

Two articles, one British and one American, about who has really benefited from property and development investment in recent years.

It’s sacrilegious but I chuckled.

Hurricanes are getting stronger, and here’s some science as to why.

Who doesn’t love baby pandas?

Know her name.

If you’ve ever wondered about the afterlife of famous puppets, wonder no more!

My generation may be losing its faith in, well, faith. And not just religiously.

The ONLY perspective I am sharing on the sheer stupidity that is Sharpiegate: “He has a tremendous skill for controlling and crafting narrative, but instead of using that for any kind of shared vision, it’s always only about himself.”

ETA: FFS. He’s so fucking good at reality TV marketing that it sometimes makes my teeth hurt.

Here, clean your eyes and soul by donating to the INCREDIBLE humanitarian work coordinated by Chef Jose Andres who is setting the standard for crisis responsiveness with food at this point.

Three of these are absolutely our love languages.

“Etsy was supposed to be different.”

Because 2019 is a shitshow and the universe knew we all needed a win and that Lizzo was the one to deliver.

Speaking of Lizzo, I’m excited for Hustlers and did not know it was inspired by true events.

On the flipside, Lana Del Ray reacted very poorly to what was (I and a lot of other people thought) a very thoughtful and in depth review from one of the best respected critics in the biz. Sorry, LDL, but this ain’t it.

Dear god, why?! Why would anyone give that hellsite more of their intimate life details?

Ronan Farrow has dropped a book on the tactics wealth men have used to systematically silence victims bury evidence of their abuse. He’s also dropped some serious reporting on how notable organizations courted Jeffrey Epstein’s wealth, showing how this system works in detail. Keep going, Mr. Farrow.

The Atlantic is going to a subscriber model but I will absolutely be spending money on a subscription because their wide-ranging reporting–never anything to sniff at–has been especially brilliant of late. Especially in the health and lifestyle arena. This week in shocking but not surprising: vaping is problematic.

Retaliatory politics. Cool cool cool.

STIFLING politics. Cooler cooler cooler.

Gerrymandered politics from known biased operatives (see the citizenship question for the census). Coolest coolest coolest.

Who on earth thought this was going to be an okay (or intelligent!) move?

Another pop culture item I am late to is Schitt’s Creek, which is just as wonderful as everyone says. This summary of the dating history of the daughter of the house/motel had me in stitches. Spoilers, duh.

This…this is a tale….