You thought you heard a roll of thunder, but it was actually thousands of medical historians cracking their knuckles and rolling up their sleeves to revisit centuries of “dirty immigrant” canards.
Watercolor of a branch of pink fukurokuju cherry blossoms on a dun-colored background, by Kōkichi Tsunoi, 1921, via the Library of Congress
Shameless 1921 watercolor of cherry blossoms for attention, but hey Seattle: my research class for creative types launches on Monday! In the beautiful Folio library inside Pike Place Market. Sign up here (select 4/13 as start date—it's not sold out!) www.folioseattle.org/event-detail...
Viral photo from some years back of a man nonchalantly mowing his yard with a tornado on the horizon .
How it feels doing literally any task right now.
I have decided that astrology is the pumpkin spice of the occult sciences and will not be taking questions at this time.
Grateful I got the chance to work with you, Eric! Sending my best.
Important news: Have just discovered that the name Betelgeuse came from the French rendering of 9th-century Arabic that can be translated as "armpit of the Great One," and suddenly a whole bunch of stuff has started to make sense.
Seattle, I’m teaching an in-person class at Folio on research for writers & creative types. In a moment when knowing what’s trustworthy matters more than ever, we’ll dig into search, libraries + archives, evaluating sources, organizing, interviewing, narrative — and AI. Starts 4/13! bit.ly/4bHoKac
This is also probably just me being an old and standing up for a subculture that may have transmogrified once again.
But anyway it's true Dick Hebdige already explained this.
I loved Tabs today but I am confused about what Dinergoth has to do with goth and I refuse to read that essay to find out.
Aw, thank you!
A dress made from hanji paper by artist Aimee Lee. The piece is called "Arrived" (2025). Indigo on hanji, thread, mulberry bark lace.
Can you believe this dress is made from paper? Specifically, hanji — handmade Korean paper that can last for 1,000 years. It was such a delight to speak to artist Aimee Lee about hanji, artists' books, and resilience for @thestranger.com's Spring Arts issue. www.thestranger.com/books/2026/0...
I wrote about the world's first Scent Lending Library for The Art Newspaper. Read all about scent art, scent literacy, and what happened with the bottles I borrowed (it was not quite what I expected!) Sorry to say that peacock doesn't have a smell, tho. www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/03/05/a...
Living with a long term mystery illness has given me a lot to think about in terms of our culture's discomfort with uncertainty and it's ... interesting? ... to think about how that discomfort is getting baked into these systems. What catastrophes will that cause?
A midcentury Surrealist painting by Leo Kenney
A midcentury Surrealist painting by Leo Kenney
On a better note, went to a sneak peek of the Seattle Art Museum's Beyond Mysticism show yesterday and it's pretty glorious. Of course I got stuck in the Surrealism section, gaping at work by Leo Kenney, a Seattle Surrealist I'd never heard of. www.historylink.org/File/5350
Some good food for thought on AI in the military and beyond here; I particularly appreciated the note that these systems are not trained to *ever* say "I don't know" and the types of mistakes they make are not ones we are used to looking out for. www.kuow.org/stories/anth...
I've heard this happens a lot!
I'm attending a Washington State Immigrant Solidarity Know Your Rights training Feb 11, because I need a refresher on what to do when crap is going down here. And it is going down. This morning there was an ICE arrest a few blocks from where I grew up. I'm livid. Join me Feb 11? waisn.org/events/
three thick big books, all titled "vegetable situation"
quick, someone help, we've got a vegetable situation
Yes! Kids grow up so fast these days.
Young adult in babydoll dress and Docs around the corner from Easy Street records: "It's In Utero's 30th anniversary?!" Friend: "I don't know who the fuck that is." Babydoll: "It's not a person!" #thekidsarealright
I'll never forget trying to describe the bodega cats to a friend in Vancouver, BC when I moved from there to NYC. "They just have cats ... in the grocery store? Doesn't the health department have anything to say about that?"
Washington state investors: Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System, Washington State Investment Board
It's important to remember that we still have a free press -- unlike regimes that are full-on authoritarian or fascist. Pay attention to it. Support it with your money. Tell others.
Today's On Point (which should appear here eventually) was about how Minneapolis is resisting ICE--even people who don't consider themselves "political," even people who voted for Trump. The whole city is saying no. We should all be paying attention to how it's done. www.npr.org/podcasts/510...
Given current events, are we sure the success of Heated Rivalry isn't some kind of Psych Ops by the Canadians?
Somehow only just now stumbling on the Public Domain Review's collection of "decayed daguerreotypes," in case you need a distraction from the news for some weird reason publicdomainreview.org/collection/d...
But what I actually came here to say is that if you want a fast, legit way of staying on top of the false claims being spread by this admin (and how they're being supercharged by AI), I recommend NewsGuard's newsletter: www.newsguardrealitycheck.com?r=39ar2 (I am not affiliated)
Reminded me of my favorite bday party this year: Nothing like a room full of black-clad, heavily tattooed goths dancing funky to Snap!
Spent the first hour of my morning listening to early 90s r&b and hip-hop after PM Dawn's "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" played in an ad and I HIGHLY recommend this as a coping mechanism.
