If you, too, think it's absurd that the Times put a developer in this position, you can stick it to them by subscribing to the new Gourmet AND you'll get the bonus of fantastic food writing in your inbox every week: gourmetmagazine.net
For Mahmoud Khalll, this past year has been marked by profound hardship-and by profound courage. A year ago, Mahmoud was walking home through our city after sharing an iftar with his wife Noor when he was detained by federal agents, flown to Louisiana, and then held in an ICE facility for months. In that time, he was forced to miss the birth of his first child. All of this for exercising his First Amendment rights in protesting the ongoing genocide in Palestine. And yet, even in the face of that cruelty, there has also been beauty. New Yorkers raising their voices in solidarity. A city refusing to look away. Mahmoud won his freedom, and a father was finally reunited with his child. Last night, as we marked the one year anniversary of his detention, Rama and I were honored to welcome Mahmoud, Noor, and their son Deen to Gracie Mansion to break our fast together. Mahmoud is a New Yorker, and he belongs in New York City.
In a dining room, five people eat, chat and smile around a table of food.
Iftar, Day 19
haha right? Flourish (the priest) tells me it's v clear from the novels that AR had a deep understanding of it—like I can tell esp the early ones are Very Catholic, but there are apparently a lot of specific details that show she was super well-read. Oh well! Hope that rich person enjoys them lol.
haha me neither. This whole thing has got me so curious about the specific motivations of the various sellers and buyers, because they seem to vary!
I assumed this was the tip of a broader thing that's about creating content for TikTok! (There are parallels to fanbinding here, especially rebinding existing published works rather than fic)
I bid on block of Anne Rice's books! Not even her own work, her theology books (the lots were by subject), for my bff who's a big Rice fan and a priest. I'm sure my friend had already read most of the books—the point was to see what AR had noted. ($ skyrocketed in the final minutes, I lost lol)
screenshot of a book passage with words highlighted and circled with little broken heart drawings
well these aren't messy notes! Looking at a few sellers, it seems very aesthetic-driven. Do I personally want tiny hearts and words circled like this in my books? No 😅
Yeah I personally think the immersive element of reading would be broken by this, whether you know the annotator or not, but then, tons of people are not reading in particularly immersive ways these days (audio books while multitasking, reading on phones with hyperlinks & notifications flashing...)
yes, if anyone writes this, I'd love to know & read it. I'm really interested in any parallels to the overlapping circles of fanbinders—the people doing it for love/connection to the text, the people doing it performatively/to create #content, and the people charging money for it.
haha. Now see this is actually interesting imo! Like, how often are actors' annotations about accents or gestures or blocking, and how often do they, idk, write down internal character notes? Especially the more cerebral actors—would be interesting to get a little insight into their approach.
the person I screenshotted here does frame it that way....not as "AI," but as a teaching aid, they emphasize their English degree. Another one I looked at emphasized her feelings and how much she wanted to share them with her customers....I guess people use AI for stand-in friends, too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I wouldn't knock anyone who chose to do it, though I personally think of annotation as part of the immersive, solitary process of reading/thinking, not as something for another person to read. But I have other outlets for commenting on things that deeply affect me, like writing fanfiction :-D
Poking around various sellers now out of curiosity and the one I screenshotted highlights that they have an English degree and will illuminate things for you (which seems like more of a sell for their classics list than Emily Henry but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). Others frame it as connecting with them emotionally.
interesting thinking of it as friend-to-friend—this other annotator really frames it affectively, see below. Which I suppose would make sense if you're a fan of her on booktok or something, but seeing what resonated with a random stranger makes way less sense to me than with a friend!
screenshot reading: What You’ll Receive • One pre-annotated book that deeply impacted me as a reader • Colorful tabs and highlights used to mark key moments and emotions • My real-time reactions in the margins—funny comments, emotional notes, insights, and questions • A small annotation key so you understand my color-coding • Thoughtful packaging with cozy touches and a personal note
this person seems to charge a lot more than the others, perhaps due to the colorful tabs. but this person charges $60!
i'm legit crying
Chapter 1 of Moby Dick, page 1 The phrase ‘Call me Ishmael’, the first sentence of the book, is highlighted in blue, with careful highlighting on the very big C at the start. Above this, written in ballpoint pen ‘His name’
Love the glimpse into the beautiful mind that notated this used copy of Moby Dick I got
"thanks" to @smread.bsky.social for keeping me up to date on all the cool booktok #trends
screenshot of a 5-star review with the caption "Item just as described! Lots of annotations!"
screenshot from etsy of an "annotated books" item where this person will mark up emily henry novels for you (???) currently priced at $146.92
Very impressed that someone else's inane annotations in a used book have historically led me to think "ugh I can't believe I paid $3 for this," but on BookTok/Etsy people are paying $100+ for the experience.
So Philip Glass just joined TikTok. He only has like 4 posts and they’re simply him in what I assume is his living room playing the piano. First comment on one I saw was “your piano is too close to the fireplace, you’ll dry it out” and if that’s not the internet in a nutshell I don’t know what is.
Former LA Times managing editor @sarayasin.bsky.social launches The Key, a new publication about Palestine that will be "a home for journalists who have had their stories spiked in mainstream outlets."
Her opening essay is worth every second of your time: www.thekeymagazine.com/p/western-jo...
Couple things here:
1. What the fuck
2. I am allllllmost more offended by the suggestion that I would give this shitbox edit than having my identity stolen
3. The CEO is scheduled to be on Decoder soon and we will see if they back out!
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
It’s missing all the year-round rinks! And for seasonal I think LeFrak is vastly superior to everything listed there. But it does a great job capturing the full name of the Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park
As a New York City ice skater I think these aren’t even good results for that version of the query
Lots to agree with, argue over, and think about here. (Definitely agree the idea "universal" characteristic of literary fiction is a powerless character on an internal journey is... not accurate. And very much agree with disdaining the "us vs. them" sports mentality) reactormag.com/unfortunatel...
he genuinely posts about Zohran as if he's his Marxist son
😘
c'mon where else is my memory of influential meta going to matter!!
I guess also my job as a fandom journalist and editor.........
