Right? I just read it aloud three times (under my breath to myself, I’m on the bus, I’m not a monster) and it’s so the opposite of clunky that I don’t know where you’d could even *put* punctuation.
I’m on leave from Olin (DIY sabbatical, basically) and I relocated to Vancouver for the duration, as of last August.
That quote has got to be the best illustration of Dunning-Kruger syndrome I’ve seen in a while.
Hisham and I met because, on what was literally my first day as a Vancouver resident, we both went to see my (our) friend @annaleen.bsky.social at a local book event and they introduced us. An auspicious start to my time here!
*laughing* I learned about the talks thanks to Hisham forwarding it to his research group, which he welcomed me into as part of sorting a visiting/courtesy position for me at UBC, and he's been introducing me to my new colleagues across the whole university -- I'm very grateful for the connections!
If you're at all interested in the past and future of renewables and the grid, the @kutnews.bsky.social series THE DISCONNECT, which started as an explainer for the 2021 Texas power outage, has been consistently great. www.kut.org/the-disconnect
Watched @andrewdessler.com speak on climate and electricity -- I especially appreciated the local perspective on ERCOT and how West Texas became an aeolian powerhouse (grid investment pays off, go figure).
[UBC/local folks: I'll be on campus for the deeper dive tomorrow -- details below!]
It’s hilarious that “no loitering, no skateboarding, no baggy pants” is now an artwork at the Whitney Biennial www.instagram.com/p/DP6jTEPjIE...
Four panel b&w Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. In panels 1-3, Calvin has a watering can and addressing himself to a few flowers in the ground, with increasing stridency: “SO YOU WANT SOME WATER, HUH? WELL, IVE GOT A BIG CAN OF IT HERE.” “ITS UP TO ME TO DECIDE IF YOU GET WATER OR NOT! I CONTROL YOUR FATE! YOUR VERY LIVES ARE IN MY HANDS!” “WITHOUT ME YOU'RE AS GOOD AS DEAD! WITHOUT ME, YOU DON'T....” In the fourth panel, it is pouring rain. Calvin looks nonplussed.
Came across this old Calvin and Hobbes cartoon today and immediately thought about the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
*glances at headlines*
No, no reason.
A line of geese flying overhead on a cloudy day
Every time I’ve gone outside today I’ve heard the delightful cacophony of multiple skeins of geese flying overhead, returning for the spring. Dozens and dozens of chevrons. A herringbone sky. Welcome back, friends 🌱
Related: the most double-edged (where one of the cuts is self-inflicted damage) endorsement I’ve seen in while: “The creativity and skills of the team here blows my mind. I’m a 10 year Burner so trust me when I say this! They made an art car for me. A bath tub on wheels with lights and fire!”
Leroy, a grey tabby cat sleeping on a grey armchair.
Zoe, a caliby cat on grey bedcovers, three thousand miles away and a couple of years ago.
Oh I know these feels. Me and Leroy still miss her big sister Zoe.
An old screenshot talking about Google on top. It says "Google is a pure search engine — no weather, no news feed, no links to sponsors, no ads, no distractions, no portal litter. Nothing but a fast-loading search site. Reward them with a visit. Below is a screenshot from The Phantom Menace, where Anakin Skywalker is walking next to a building and behind him you see the shadow of Darth Vader.
"War is mankind's most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men. Though you follow the trade of the warrior, you do so in the spirit of Washington -- not of Genghis Khan. For Americans, only threat to our way of life justifies resort to conflict." Graduation Exercises at the United States Military Academy, 6/3/47 "Possibly my hatred of war blinds me so that I cannot comprehend the arguments they adduce. But, in my opinion, there is no such thing as a preventive war. Although this suggestion is repeatedly made, none has yet explained how war prevents war. Worse than this, no one has been able to explain away the fact that war creates the conditions that beget war." Remarks at Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 10/19/50 [DDE's Pre-Presidential Papers, Principal File, Box
Was browsing the Eisenhower Library site this morning trying to find a quote I remembered.
President Eisenhower, WW2 military hero:
“In my opinion, there is no such thing as a preventive war… none has yet explained how war prevents war.”
As a worker-owned literary collective, we've drawn inspiration from @theflytrapmedia.com, @aftermath.site, @hearingthingsco.bsky.social, @404media.co and other independent publications (*cough* @coyotemedia.org). We hope you'll join us! www.talkscratch.com
Writers of Bsky: Scratch is back! This time as a weekly newsletter/blog about how writers are surviving ~these times~, run by me, @manjula.bsky.social, @maggiemertens.bsky.social, and @latriagraham.bsky.social. You can read more about why/what that means in our announcement post below.
Four panel b&w Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. In panels 1-3, Calvin has a watering can and addressing himself to a few flowers in the ground, with increasing stridency: “SO YOU WANT SOME WATER, HUH? WELL, IVE GOT A BIG CAN OF IT HERE.” “ITS UP TO ME TO DECIDE IF YOU GET WATER OR NOT! I CONTROL YOUR FATE! YOUR VERY LIVES ARE IN MY HANDS!” “WITHOUT ME YOU'RE AS GOOD AS DEAD! WITHOUT ME, YOU DON'T....” In the fourth panel, it is pouring rain. Calvin looks nonplussed.
Came across this old Calvin and Hobbes cartoon today and immediately thought about the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
*glances at headlines*
No, no reason.
We all hate the time change, and this is your semi-annual reminder that permanent standard time is better than permanent daylight time
www.cbc.ca/newsinteract...
[this has been Deb’s idiosyncratic and global cultural calendar]
Vancouver friends, tickets are on sale now for THE END OF GREATNESS at the Cultch, a theatre piece about moss and mushrooms and synthesizers and the Voyager spacecraft and cake. (I’m the Consulting Scientist on this show and it is super-fun.) www.theatrereplacement.org/projects/end...
Frankfurt friends, please go to Basis to see INFRASCAPES, the first solo show from LA-based Kaya + Blank (I wrote a short piece for an accompanying print reader).. basis-frankfurt.de/en/show/kaya...
Vienna friends, please go to the Weltmuseum to see THE CRAFTOCENE, the new solo show from London-based (speculative) design powerhouse Superflux. (I’m writing a piece this month for the museum.) www.weltmuseumwien.at/en/exhibitio...
NYC friends, please go to MoMA to see EIGHT BRIDGES and spend eighty minutes sitting quietly looking at bridges across the US in the new James Benning doc. www.moma.org/calendar/eve...
Chicago friends!
When someone says „Scientists do not want you to know“ you can dismiss everything from there on. Scientists want you to know. They are desperate that you know. They can’t shut up about what they found out and want you to know.
Library of Congress Innovator in Residence graphic
Calling all technologists, artists and other creative visionaries:
The Library of Congress has opened the call for the next Innovator in Residence!
Apply by 2pm ET April 10
newsroom.loc.gov/news/library...
yeah. I know it feels like you should just be able to write the perfect words first time. if you go slow enough, you should be able to just find each next perfect word.
but it's not like that. it's like a bicycle. too slow & you fall. it has to be in motion even awkwardly to get where you're going.
Picture of Marjane Satrapi alongside a quote from her. The quote reads: The world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same... - Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-French graphic novelist
Thinking about this quote from Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi again.
I tell my students international law lays bare both the artifice and the promise of all law, but I’ll admit I was hoping they wouldn’t get more real-time examples this semester
