Greetings! Here’s this week’s update.
What I’ve Been Writing/Featured In
As I still process the online lynchmob that descended upon me and think about how to write about it without it being all about me, I find I have several thoughts about the matter. I wrote this short piece that includes some of them, “If You Think You Are a Nail, Everything Looks Like a Hammer.”
Eugenia Williamson and I wrote this massive abortion manifesto for The Baffler. It will be online soon, and I’ll post a link then, but in the meantime: here are pics of the gorgeous issue and (most of) our cats who helped us write this.
From the Web
Memorial Day Weekend brought a reminder of this astonishing poem, Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est,” published posthumously in 1920.
All my fears of French are crystalised in this.
You know all those supposedly juvenile jokes about Uranus? A group of scientists somewhere is chuckling about this headline, which I would have killed to write.
A fortune cookie told me I’ll have a career in entertainment, which reminded me of Richard Gere learning to tap dance at 54, which reminded me of Hinton Battle in that musical episode of Buffy. Here’s Gere in Chicago.
University of Chicago grad students are unionising; here’s Uday Jain’s piece for some history and context.
In the wake of Manchester, here’s some much-needed levity, featuring Brit responses to threat levels.
Some humans thought it was fun to play around with sea lions (as far as I can tell, the fun involved some teasing). So the sea lion tried to get some revenge.
Have you always wanted to go to one of those adorable cat cafes? How about … a rat cafe?
You too can be a cat cuddler.
If you’ve ever been curious about that huge Patel Brothers grocery store, here’s some history.
From the Archives
Here’s my older Current Affairs review of Timothy Stewart-Winter’s book Queer Clout: Chicago and the Rise of Gay Politics.
Remember the Mantis Shrimp? No? Well, here’s a reminder about the creature The Oatmeal describes as “Genghis Khan bathed in sherbet ice cream.”
Remember my piece on Suey Park? Yes, there actually is a sequel forthcoming; here’s the first part, “Suey Park and the Afterlife of Twitter.”
Like the last part, it will have a soundtrack, including John Newman’s “Love Me Again.”
John Cale’s Paris 1919 is quite possibly my favourite album of his. Here’s the title song.
Don’t plagiarise any of this, in any way. I have used legal resources to punish and prevent plagiarism, and I am ruthless and persistent. I make a point of citing people and publications all the time: it’s not that hard to mention me in your work, and to refuse to do so and simply assimilate my work is plagiarism. You don’t have to agree with me to cite me properly; be an ethical grownup, and don’t make excuses for your plagiarism. Read and memorise “On Plagiarism.” There’s more forthcoming, as I point out in “The Plagiarism Papers.” If you’d like to support me, please donate and/or subscribe, or get me something from my wish list. Thank you.
