I was in Chicago when it started to hardcore gentrify in the 90s. A lotta “cardboard condos” went up, etc. Hard to believe but much of Chicago was pretty affordable up till then.

Every Hyatt Regency is a damn masterpiece

I didn’t realize how many of my mental issues were due to living in the Midwest with undiagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder until I moved to an always sunny, warm place and felt 1000x better, especially during the winter (Oct-May in the Midwest)

Merriam-Webster would disagree

But what if things *are* getting demonstrably crappier? Nostalgia about better things could inspire us to make things less crappy? (this is also my proposed political slogan)

CURRENT MOOD

Amazing!! You did such phenomenal, endlessly fascinating work on that podcast.

Jiminy Cricket as a symbol of conscience

If you don’t have one of these you are a psycho

You are doing the lord’s work. Future historians chronicling the Fall of the American Empire will thank you.

And…?

Late capitalism is really something 🌖

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Trump Administration Live Updates: Judge Halts White House Ballroom Construction

www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03...

Trump pointing to a model of the new White House ballroom

Hitler viewing a model of Berlin

Same energy

Yes!!! In some ways, the least commented upon Ring opera, and yet just as deserving of commentary IMO

There is a reason why Sieglinde’s “Redemption through Love” leitmotif soars over the orchestra at the end of GD. It’s only the second time it’s heard in the entire cycle. Both times it is the counter-argument and triumphant rejoinder to narcissistic lust and violent domination of women and men.

F*cking Baudrillard strikes again

Which one? Asking for a (snoring) friend!

This is the way!

Effect of covid-19 vaccination on long covid: systematic review To determine the effect of covid-19 vaccination, given before and after acute infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, or after a diagnosis of long covid, on the rates and symptoms of long covid. Systematic review. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane covid-19 ...

There are a number of studies that indicate that the Covid vax can be therapeutic for long COVID:

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Thirty of these missiles cost as much as the national endowment for the arts annual budget

(The Zen part led me down a 20-year rabbit hole of studying the Kyoto School of philosophy (if you are looking for a new rabbit hole))

plato.stanford.edu/entries/kyot...

As an angsty undergrad I also found Heidegger’s idea that human existence was (strangely) grounded on the “null ground of a nullity” to be radically freeing (and rather Zen)

Right. The greater your ability to resist the forces of confinement, the greater your freedom. Keep resisting, keep fighting!

Unbuilt: An Unrealized Theme Park Podcast Design Podcast ·

Here you go, 75 episodes of well researched, amusingly presented analysis of unbuilt theme parks and attractions. One of the great works of the 2020s: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u...

The popped cherry in question being my virgin ears and it was fully non-consensual and very painful

💯

Once Known for Vaccine Skeptics, Marin Now Tells Them ‘You’re Not Welcome’ (Published 2022)

Marin County shows a way out of the madness:
www.nytimes.com/2022/10/02/u...

It’s a Wonderful Life bank run scene.

“You're thinking of the $175 billion in tariff money all wrong. As if I had the money back in a safe. The money's not here. Your money's in the White House ballroom, the renaming of the Department of Defense, the $10 billion transfer to the Board of Peace, and a hundred other unauthorized actions.”

Kokuho - GKIDS Films After the death of his father, the leader of a yakuza gang, 14-year-old Kikuo is taken under the wing of a famous kabuki actor.

Anyone who loves opera, theater, performing arts, Japan, or just epic storytelling NEEDS to see this film while it’s in US theaters this week only. It’s a total masterpiece. Don’t let the 3-hour runtime scare you — you will be so riveted it will feel half as long.

gkids.com/films/kokuho/