That’s very kind - I never rate my photos (but yes, it is mine).

The baldacchino and apse of Santa Maria Maggiore. The mosaic in the apse is beautiful and impressive and very very full of gold.

Very much lapsed here too. It had the same effect on my that some works of art have (hello Caravaggio). And the contrast to the church it’s in is stark.

The Tomb of Pope Francis. A bare, white marble space with a small crucifix on the wall. This n the floors a simple slab reads ‘FRANCISVUS’ in kerning that’s been dissected online to show it actually follows some hidden mathematical rule but still looks terrible in person.

Found my visit to Pope Francis’ tomb surprisingly moving. In the middle of the too-much-ness of Roman churches, it’s quiet and contemplative. Plus, the kerning forces your eyes shut so it looks like you’re praying.

tHeY r thE bəSt

So we have what in systems design we call Rational Irrationality.

That is a series of individually rational decisions which lead to an irrational outcome.

It is rational to limit access to highly sensitive information on an individual.

It is rational to airgap the vetting process. /1

Types of American plays

1. I hate my parents

2. I hate my children

3. I hate my spouse

4. I live in an exciting/boring town

5. I am a special boy/girl/mystery.

Revealed: Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision Guardian investigation uncovers decision by UK security officials to deny clearance before Mandelson took up role as US ambassador

No10’s account is incredible.
I held Developed Vetting for nearly ten years and spent three years at the heart of the Cabinet Office. I have never heard of a Developed Vetting denial being overruled. Here’s why…🧵

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Vigil by George Saunders | Waterstones Buy Vigil by George Saunders from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

Read this while laying awake last night (after seeing the news about the collapse of the AMOC/Gulf Stream - civilisation ending stuff that’s already bumped from the headlines by More Oil Wars). In many ways the perfect companion to climate panic since, like the best art, it contains hope.

A plum tree in peak pink blossom. The branches are full of bubblegum pom poms of the softest, most sumptuous petals.

A cherry tree in peak bloom. The flowers are a soft pinky white with a deep plum centre, like a beautiful array of floral eyes. The occasional lime green leaf juts out from the mix.

Shout out to my neighbourhood cherry and plum trees on this windy day, whose blossoms of confetti turned my walk into something triumphal.

Thank you. Yesterday felt v much like a ‘stop writing the poems’ day. May today be different again.

Thanks! He does come across as a good one (double checked on him before my initial post since you can never be too sure anymore).

Experience has shown me that, when I reach this point, all the distractions I can muster are only postponements. It’s time to face up to total, unmitigated despair. I sometimes do this by going alone on a “holiday” — though that word scarcely conveys the crashing tedium involved, for I usually choose somewhere uneventful, take nothing with me, and then rely on the horror of my own company to drive me rapidly to the edge of the abyss.

Enjoyed this Brian Eno quote (in the always-excellent Maria Popova newsletter, The Marginalian) on burnout. The glue that connects artists, new or old, wildly successful or scrabbling for credibility, is our readiness to admit how much we can’t stand ourselves.

I care less about the status of the Uni and more that my kid is happy, studying what he’s interested in, and has complimented me multiple times on how my spreadsheet helped his decision-making.

Not to brag* but it almost doesn’t matter where my kid goes for uni**, I got such a good spreadsheet going on***.

(*patently a lie)
(*also not strictly true)
(***v much the truth, thank you)

The marble sculpture of Saint Theresa in Ecstasy (she sure is) by Bernini. A nun is splayed on a rock, legs apart, hands dangling limply, head lolling backwards while her eyes and mouth gape half-open. A mischievous Cupid stands over her, his own tunic disheveled, letting him flash an innocent, pre-pubescent breast. He’s about to stab her with a golden arrow. His smiling face says he’s delighted to be giving her his small prick.

The greatest trick the devil (Bernini) ever pulled was convincing the church that this horny sculpture was about god.

A tea bag sits in paper cup full of water. There’s a glimpse of tan at the bottom of the cup, like seeing the river bed through a beautiful clear stream. It’s the only brown that’s emerged after two minutes of steeping. Much like the current state of English waterways, this cup of tea is shit.

I don’t have faith in this cup of tea.

We Don't Know Ourselves - Wikipedia

Almost finished reading this. Fascinating and horrifying in turns. The ‘our family is not going to talk about this’ brand of dysfunction taken to a national level.

Brains are the dumbest things.

The easiest way to take the joy out of travelling: preparing to go travelling.

(That day was not today.)

I’d like it if one day my brain got the message that yes, I packed my passport and yes, I set my alarm and no, there’s no need to stay awake all night just because I’ll be travelling the next day.

The hypocrisy that kind of thinking is almost comic.
Single and pregnant at 17: irresponsible, loose, ruined for life.
Married and pregnant at 17: doing God’s blessed work.

This combines two of my favourite things: reducing needless stuff, and arguing over whose system of categorisation is best (mine, obvs).

I was the iconoclast of my group who suggested this. None of us had boyfriends, it all seemed performative and silly. My friends were scandalised I’d even said it.
(Result: I went with a boy I didn’t like, sat at a table away from my friends, and feigned narcolepsy to get him to stop kissing me)

I dislike everything about this. One of the American imports that is really better without. And the pressure of being videod, too? 😱 (But I’ve always found *any* public proposals creepy and slightly coercive.)

Phwoar. This is some hot, hot knowledge right here.

He sounded like a wonderful man and father. I'm sorry for your loss.

Come to @adapalmer.bsky.social for her excellent book on Renaissance Italy; stay for a continual drip feed of the world's most fascinating stuff.

"The unearthing of the videos could prove damaging to Farage."

Sure could. If we lived in a timeline where accountability were still a thing.