Craig Bill, Top 100, The International Landscape Photographer of the Year 2019.

Just some photos and some poems this week. I’ve been in the middle of several books, but haven’t finished any yet. I’m writing this intro on Thursday night, listening to the wind wail. The library I work at has a tall atrium and the effect of the wind on it sounds eerie. Also, my nose is freezing! What is a business-casual solution for a cold nose indoors?

1. “Why are you so sturdy?” from 44 Poems for You, Sarah Ruhl. “I would trade / a large and practical room / for a room / the size of a window / from which to see the moon.” I read this collection of poems this week and I liked their simple familiarity.
2. Uglification 101 with Vaness Rochelle Lewis, Canva presentation. “You are not ugly. Ugly is a thing that was done to you.” This is a new term to me but it resonates — one of the action points is to stop liking/sharing online photos and memes that mock and uglify others. Let people live! No one is hurting you by how they look, you know? Anyway, makes me want to be a kinder person in an area I hadn’t given a lot of thought to.
3. Breathtaking Winners of International Landscape Photographer of the Year, Modern Met. Landscape photos are interesting. Are you supposed to feel disoriented, like you don’t know what you’re looking at or from what direction? They make the tongue of my soul water. This week’s blog image is my favorite of this collection.
4. Photos: Life Goes On In The Epicenter Of The Coronavirus Outbreak: Goats and Soda, NPR. The photo of the resident and their puppy struck me for some reason, and the one of the empty highways. I hope a vaccine can be created soon!
5. How to Triumph Like a Girl, Ada Limón. Reminds me of the intense girl achievers in my life, who I very much love. “…See / the huge beating genius machine / that thinks, no, it knows, / it’s going to come in first.”

Llamas are cat horses! This scheme makes sense to me, although goat must be much closer to horse because in my experience there is no love in those beady eyes. Have a great weekend!

1. The 2020 Election Will Be a War of Disinformation, The Atlantic. “I’d assumed that my skepticism and media literacy would inoculate me against such distortions.” Something I’ve learned in teaching information literacy is that the more you think you’re a critical thinker and immune to propaganda or disinformation, the more vulnerable you are. I thought the concept of “censorship through noise” was interesting, and harmonizes last week’s advice to decide how much information you need to make a decision on a candidate, and then step back from the coverage. I’m especially interested in this story from an information literacy perspective, thinking about how I can help equip students (citizens!) to navigate this confusing, relentless, and upsetting landscape. “Disinformation” sounds stale and sterile, but it preys on our emotions, and this article gives some chilling examples of how. And this is important: “By the time [President Obama] left office, he told me, he was convinced that disinformation would continue to thrive until big tech companies were forced to take responsibility for it.”
2. Family Business, Truly*Adventurous. What a wild story. Con men continue to be interesting to me (and a lot of people), and this story scratches that itch. True crimes, but no murder. Refreshing.
3. What the coronavirus forcing me in lockdown’s taught me about cooking, Reddit user mthmchris. “That is why ‘authenticity’ in food is a valuable goal, despite it being a… controversial word in many circles. It’s not that cuisine can never change, or that there’s only one recipe for any given dish. It’s about respecting the idea that (1) the generations that came before us were probably much better cooks than we are and (2) you can generally find a lot more interesting food by looking back, by peeking in dusty corners, than you can by inventing your own hack or whatever.” I’ve been thinking about this essay ever since I read it, especially the parts about fusion and innovation. I highly recommend this one!
4. The Case Against Italicizing “Foreign” Words, Khairani Barokka. “It wouldn’t hurt, however, for anyone using forms of italicization in a highly specific way to examine the antecedents of these standards; to take a beat and sit with what exactly is meant, really meant, by italicizing a word in a specific context, including those not mentioned here. What it means in terms of power: who deserves it, who defines it, who has more or less of it.” Language and power are all wrapped up together. Plus, when writing for the web with accessibility in mind, italics are becoming less recommended for emphasis (bold is preferred).
5. Poetry Month: What Resembles the Grave But Isn’t, Anne Boyer. This prose poem is a little bit of a puzzle and I recommend reading it aloud to yourself to follow the mantra-like rhythm. But you will find this poem rewarding. “…sometimes falling into holes with other people, with other people, saying “this is not our mass grave, get out of this hole,” all together getting out of the hole together, hands and legs and arms and human ladders of each other to get out of the hole that is not the mass grave but that will only be gotten out of together.”

Happy my mom’s birthday! Last night, David and I went to the Y with a pair of friends and moved our bodies and then soothed them in the Y’s steam and sauna rooms (Charlotte: “Would you like to be grilled or steamed?” We said, both). This Valentine’s day, I’m really feeling grateful for community and friendship, for the people who are always rooting for you and who inspire you to be your best self. Love all you good, good friends!

1. Why is Jeanine Cummins’s ‘American Dirt’ a Thriller?, The Cut. “There’s a reason that most people who go through the kind of traumatic events exploited by American Dirt choose not to write their stories as thrillers. Traumatic events have to be survived in the moment, and for many years after. Writing about past trauma is often a means of self-preservation. Thrillers are at cross-purposes with this: They require oversimplification and demand a source of exhilaration. I have yet to meet someone who finds their own trauma exhilarating.” This is really thoughtful criticism of a controversial book (that also sounds pretty poorly written, though I haven’t read it).
2. We need to move on from self-care to something that cannot be captured by capitalism, The Guardian. “Wouldn’t it be great if this decade we took the self out of self-care and strived instead for communal care? Self-care is saying “I need to look after me”, while collective self-care is saying “we need to look after each other” …Collective care exists outside the market and can’t be captured by capitalism, turned into a product that we buy back and, by definition of its price, excludes many from participating in it.”
3. Missouri lawmaker proposes bill criminalizing public libraries’ drag queen story hours, NBC. This is the same proposed bill, the Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act, that I talked about a few weeks ago here. It’s written with the intention to limit public library book collections, but also events. If you don’t have little kids or don’t go to public libraries much, you might not realize how hugely popular drag queen story hours are. Kids love the glamour and performance, and they are open to absorbing the messages of diversity, self-love and self-expression that come from these storytimes. The impulse to restrict LGBTQ content and events from the public library, especially with the “think of the children!” premise, really makes me sick.
4. The Very Real Mental Ramifications of Extremely Long Elections, Vice. “What we do know: “They are telling us they feel tired,” Arceneaux said. “They feel less interested in following along with what’s going on. And we know that, outside of politics, people have a certain emotional reserve to deal with things. After a while, you just run out of emotional wherewithal to respond.” I definitely feel tired! I like this recommendation in the article, to focus on quality coverage of the election and candidates. “Consider how much information, and what kind, they need about each candidate to make a voting decision, and once you reach that threshold, take a step back.” This is absolutely what I do in other areas of life (see: buying my wedding dress, where I tried on precisely three (3) dresses and picked one the same day), so this advice resonates.
5. 5 Awesome, Immediate Self-Care Resources For When You Feel Like Actual Garbage, Let’s Queer Things Up. Perhaps a companion piece to #2, I like this round-up because it’s accessible and immediate. “If you’re struggling to get through this moment, this won’t magically solve all of your problems. However, it can certainly help you cope.” In particular I like the “You Feel Like Shit: Interactive Self-Care Guide” that is recommended here. Take care of yourselves, friendies, but also reach out to your people, you don’t have to struggle alone.

Bonus features:

• “I have this picture from a biology text book saved because it always makes me happy when I see it no matter how bad I feel,” Twitter. Our favorite!
• Husky and baby (gif) – BFFs!!

IRENE

This was a really long week — the first of the semester, which is always chaotic, but there’s also been a little something extra dragging my eyelids closed. Maybe it’s the rain, maybe it’s my mental health, but either way I want a nap. Here’s a mix of advice columns, poetry, and prayers today. I’m not going to say they’re all light, but that they are all enjoyable.

1. How To Write A Love Poem, The Awl. “It’s not about being judged or getting a genius grant or being remembered for all eternity. Writing a poem could just be about making other people think about art for a second instead of, I don’t know, Work and Money and Troubles. The world is a little better when you believe in poetry, too. Even if you never get a genius grant, you still might get laid or loved or even liked. And you might make someone’s day. And get an invitation out for drinks. It’s nice to be liked and to have poems written about you. Especially is the poems are interesting and alluring. How many poems dedicated to you about how great you are ended up in your inbox today? Don’t you wish there was at least one? Yeah. So do I.” This is an oldie but new to me.
2. “I Imagine the Butches’ Stripper Bar”, Jill McDonough. Lovely poem. “Fantastic grow the flannel plaids…” I like how sonnets always sound like they end with a mic drop, because of the rhyme of the final two lines.
3. “My boyfriend doesn’t do chores, help!” Here’s the Thing. “Your boyfriend MUST participate. There is no “or else” here any more than there is an “or else” about wearing shoes to work. You just have to. That’s it. You just do because you’re an adult now. His attitude cannot be “I’m doing this to appease you.” Or “I’m doing this so you aren’t pissy or nagging at me.” That is fucked. That’s a full-on bad partner. I’m not saying anyone’s dick is getting hard at the thought of vacuuming, but you should like making your partners life better. You should like taking part in caring for your shared home.” I like that thing about wearing shoes to work. I have been guilty of being the no-chorin’ partner — and of course I have all my reasons (tired! I don’t mind mess!), but I know I’m in the wrong. Sharing this as an act of accountability — Emily, do the chores!
4. Trans Prayer, Ritual Well. I came across a similar prayer on Tumblr, but this was the one I was able to track down and I think I like it even more. “When I doubt my existence, / Remind me I am yours.”
5. Hello, 911?, by Samantha Irby, New Yorker. Samantha Irby…love her. “Hello, 911? Which line is moving faster, the one I’m in or that other line, and do you think I should switch? Does it matter? It’s not like I have anywhere to be, but just standing here makes me feel like my organs are going to burst out of my skin. I can’t prove it, but I think this line is moving incrementally slower. Why does that make me feel like I’m losing a race? Should I just stay where I am, or do you think it’s O.K. if I ease over to Lane 8 in a way that silently telegraphs to the checkout girl, “I’m not mad, just having an inexplicable panic attack, please ignore me”?”

Bonus features:

• This is the highest-resolution photo of the sun ever taken – The sun looks like popcorn!
• “The pedestrian walkway” (Twitter video)
• What color is your name? This is a really neat project by someone who has a color-specific synesthesia, where letters and numbers are represented in her mind as colors. Type your name into the box and see those associations!