Link Roundup!

by Nicole Cliffe · September 18, 2014

Look at all those lil geniuses. One day, the MacArthur foundation will recognize Mallory. Here is a brief reaction interview that our own Annalisa Quinn did with Alison Bechdel:

Do you have a goal for your work —- something in particular you want it to show or teach people?

Do I have a goal for my work? Once many years ago I wrote myself a “mission statement.” It was “To unceasingly excavate the potsherds of truth from the sediment of convenience.” I guess that continues to be my goal.

You may be too good for this, but I’m not.

Louisa Thomas on the NFL:

The NFL calls itself a family. If that’s the case, it’s a family of fathers and sons but not wives and daughters. It’s a family that more closely resembles the mob than a family connected by blood or love. It’s a family that protects its own by cutting others, a family that privileges loyalty over what’s right. But loyalty goes only so far in the NFL — because at some not-so-distant point, the family turns into a business. When concussions enter into it, or salary caps, or age, the family becomes about winning Sunday’s big game or about the business’s bottom line. If it’s a family, then it’s a fucked-up family.

Books that should be turned into concept albums:

1. Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays: The Mountain Goats

Numerous bands and singer-songwriters throughout the years have made concept albums based entirely around a certain book, from Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds (a retelling of H.G. Wells’ The War Of The Worlds) to Locrian’s The Crystal World (inspired by J.G. Ballard’s The Crystal World) to Grimes’ Geidi Primes (about Frank Herbert’s Dune). That said, more artists should do it. As formats, the novel and the full-length album have much in common when it comes to scope, and of course, musicians are often happy to talk about their literary influences (if not reference them in song). John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats is one of them. Not only does the indie troubadour have a debut novel of his own, Wolf In White Van, on the shelves now, he once stated inan interview that one of his favorite novels is Joan Didion’s 1970 masterpiecePlay It As It Lays. Darnielle should be held to that confession: A Mountain Goats album that turns Didion’s stark portrait of Hollywood despair into, well, stark and despairing songs could be a beautiful thing.

The most feminist moments in sci-fi history:

Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain Publishes “Sultana’s Dream” (1905)
It’s criminal that Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain is rarely mentioned alongside her American feminist contemporaries. Her work on behalf of women’s rights in early 20th-century India included establishing the first school for Muslim girls and the publication of multiple gender-centric stories. In the short utopian satire “Sultana’s Dream,” the tradition of purdah (in which women are hidden from society in various ways) is reversed so that men are the isolates, and women invent and benefit from advanced technology, including flying cars and solar power. With its publication, Hussain became not only one of the best-known Islamic feminist authors, but also one of the very first known feminist sci-fi writers in the East or West, period. (Read it here.)

Excavating the more-recent past:

One day in the winter of 1981, a young archaeologist named E. Breck Parkman was prowling around the ruins of a burned out mansion north of San Francisco when, in a corner, he came upon a large mound of charred wood and other debris. Nothing much was recognizable, Parkman remembers. But poking out of the pile were a few scraps of tie-dyed fabric.

Nicole is an Editor of The Toast.


139 Comments

  1. EPWordsnatcher +65

    Anybody who thinks they’re too good for that authorial hookup chart can leave.

    Things I learned from said Authorial Hookup Chart: Marlene Deitrich was, in fact, the center of the known universe. As we always suspected.

    2. ToastiewithCheese +16

      That chart is totally missing a direct line between Dietrich and Garbo, however. I mean, that’s my headcannon at least, and I believe there’s actual basis, too.

    3. raqueue +28

      I think the hookup chart is not nearly extensive enough. Was Oscar Wilde seriously Walt Whitman’s only literary hookup?

          1. gripyfish +22

            I saw a different literary hookup chart (though where, I sadly can’t recall) where the Bloomsbury Group was essentially a closed system. I was more entertained by that than is possibly decent.

          2. ToTheIsLand +5

            In the course of attempting to watch “Carrington” and understand what was happening, I literally made myself a chart of all the complicated relationships within the Bloomsbury group (who was married to who, who was sleeping with who, who wanted to be sleeping with who but it was unrequited, etc.). It was… very complicated.

          3. gripyfish +12

            They lived in squares and loved in triangles, man.

            The last time I was at the Met, they had a Vanessa Bell painting (possibly the one OF Duncan Grant, though I can’t remember) right next to one by Duncan Grant. I found my girlfriend one gallery over, dragged her back to the paintings, and went BLOOMSBURYS while making a ta-dah motion with my hands. I don’t think the security guard was amused, but we were.

    4. Frumiosa +30

      And into such diverse types, as well! A butch, a femme, a German dude, JFK, GEORGE BERNARD SHAW?? Where did she even find the time.

    5. msmuses +14

      I believe she also exchanged love letters with Hemingway for decades? I don’t think they ever actually hooked up, but THAT much sexting should surely count.

    6. PonyAlong +4

      *pulls up a chair*

      Yep, the great takeaway is Deitrich, Vanderbilt and de Acosta are my sexual heroines. So many interesting lov-ahs (Sorry for the phonetic spelling but it seems appropriate here).

    7. BourneApprox +17

      Don’t show this to the #GamerGate dudes! They’ll freak out and try to boycott all the modernist literature they’re not reading because of ETHICS! Holy shit – people in the same artistic circles screw each other all the time!! #LiteraryCriticsmEthics

  2. erindubitably +79

    AHHHHHHHHHH I know this is not an open thread but Toasties I need somewhere to flail! Scotland is voting on its independence referendum today and we won’t find out the results for at least 14 hours and I am DYING.

    This is the most exciting civic opportunity I’ve ever been part of in my life (even though I can’t vote in it) and it’s just so incredible. 97% of eligible voters are registered! They are expecting over 80% voter turnout! THIS IS SO EXCITING AND I AM FREAKING OUT. AHHHHHHHH

    1. EPWordsnatcher +58

      GO SCOTLAND

      IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY (MAYBE)

      WE GONNA PARTY LIKE IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY (POTENTIALLY)

    2. moxycrimefighter +31

      I am mourning the arrival of this vote because it means that the end of sexy Scottish accents on NPR is nigh.

        1. Janie_S +54

          YOU HAVE TO HAVE SPECIAL, GENEROUS IMMIGRATION STANDARDs FOR AMERICAN LADIES W/ LITTLE ECONOMIC VALUE.

          1. erindubitably +27

            That’s the great thing about an independent Scotland – it very well might have a much more flexible immigration policy! You still have to be okay with rain, though.

          2. moxycrimefighter +9

            My plan was to move to Portland, so YES PLEASE TAKE MEEEEE. I am part Scottish! I’ve been reading the Outlander books! I like to drink! My potential social and economic contributions are obvious and endless.

            Seriously, the accents. Phwoar.

          3. Age

            Not to be a downer, but the accents go away. I’ve been living in London about 8 years now and I don’t really hear it any more. I imagine moving to Scotland would be much the same.

          7. moxycrimefighter +4

            That’s just a bonus question, but you will be required to draw at least 100 patterns of officially registered tartans; translate Scots dialect into the Queen’s English (ex: “Ma wee hovirkreftie afornent lippert owt per wip pimperneels”); and provide one (1) authentic recipe for haggis, with two (2) alternative preparations for vegetarian guests. All answers on the oral exam must be preceded by “Hoot, mon.”

      2. EPWordsnatcher +66

        Did you hear the Scottish teenage non-dirtbags this morning? They’ve opened voting to 16 and 17 year olds so they FOUND SOME IN THE WILD and TALKED TO THEM and they sounded like nice dudes.

        2. rallisaurus +21

          I was super impressed with them both! I’m pretty sure at 16 I would not have sounded nearly so mature about the whole situation. I mean, I’m 28 now and I’m just like “suck it England!” soooo….yeah

    3. noodge4lyfe +21

      it is so exciting!!!!

      I was speaking about it with a preternaturally calm, pragmatic man the other day, and he was playing it down, and I wanted to shake him! This is a cultural group voting on the opportunity to be their own nation for the first time in hundreds of years! GET SOME FIRE IN YER LOINS! THIS SHIT IS EXCITING!

      (i mean, yeah, there are lots of political and economic reasons why it may not happen, but just enjoy the adventure ffs)

          4. moraghannah +2

            Not enough people have liked this joke. I think it is because they do not know who Ruth Davidson is. Everybody: go and read about Ruth Davidson. Then come back and upvote this comment for its SHEER GENIUS.

            (EDIT: To clarify: I am not a Tory (like obvs) but I actually quite like Ruth Davidson. All teasing meant fondly and in the spirit of sisterhood.)

      3. ballisticjaguar +13

        While it is INCREDIBLY EXCITING that Scotland is voting on whether to be their own nation, Quebec has actually done this in both 1980 and 1995. These votes were both super-duper close, with the 1995 one being ‘49.42% voting “Yes” and 50.58% voting “No”‘ (according to Wikipedia). From what I’ve seen, this one looks like it’ll also be close whatever ends up happening.

    4. ArsenioB_Ham +31

      80% voter turnout is its own miracle, regardless of the results (which I too am very excited to hear)

      1. erindubitably +8

        The level of engagement has just been absolutely fantastic, and I really hope that regardless of the outcome it continues – people get a taste of having their voice heard and want more, MORE!!

    5. Angelan_ +4

      OH GOD I KNOW. It is a stressful time but I have voted and am just going to look at the results tomorrow. I know people who plan to stay up all night :s

      1. erindubitably +3

        Hahah, we may be having a ref party that will involve drinking, shouting at the telly, and naps.

    6. thisclimbingbean +5

      I am so intrigued about this and really interested in what the outcome is going to be. It’s almost 10pm here so I’m kind of hoping by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, there might be news. The last I heard, though, it was going to be close!

    7. joancallamezzo +22

      YAAAAASSS so glad someone brought this to the thread!!! While walking to my office today I saw a topless old man in a kilt with ‘NAW’ written across his chest. No work will get done today.

      1. EPWordsnatcher +16

        I’m kind of amazed that Scotland as a whole didn’t just declare the whole day a holiday so people could go vote (and then party!) (like you said, it’s not like anything work-related is going to get done, right?)

      2. erindubitably +10

        Driving my wife to and from the polling place I had to resist the urge to wave at everybody I saw with badges/posters/whatever (of both sides).

        *endlessly watches Twitter, ignores seminar planning*

      3. coloredlights +13

        Okay I just realized why I saw a guy in a kilt on the subway today. It’s New York, so I kind of went “huh, kilt” and continued about my business – but clearly he was celebrating the vote, which makes it even better.

    8. NicoleCliffe +27

      I am happy for democracy to take its course either way, but I am personally rooting (probably pointlessly) for a No victory, as I think that it’s honestly going to be an economic nightmare for everyone.

      1. erindubitably +42

        That’s okay! I kept my post non-partisan because I really am just excited to be surrounded by such an amazing level of public engagement in politics! Regardless of the outcome we have had so much discussion of the type of society we want to live in and the way government affects that and what we can do about it that I know it’s going to have a positive effect in the long term.

      2. Angelan_ +3

        There’s plenty of Scottish people voting no, but I think it’s going to be close – either way there’ll be a lot of unhappy people :/

    9. merrite +3

      Yay Scotland!! Yay voter turnout!!! DEMOCRACY!

      I am not Scottish, but my main academic interest is ethnicity and regionalism (and ethnic/regional voting) SO this is very exciting to watch.

    10. Steph +1

      Having been a young’un in Ontario in 1995 (last Quebec referendum), I had only a vague idea of the implications of a yes vote. (That said, people draw a lot of parallels between QC and Scotland and I’m not convinced all of them are apt) I’m really interested how this’ll shake out, and I’m thrilled that that much of the electorate is participating.

        1. Steph +2

          “Quebec nationalism seems to be where Scottish nationalism was back in the 1970s, all heart and no substance. However, where the Scottish nationalism debate has evolved, Quebec nationalism has stagnated.” BINGO. (says the recent anglo transplant.)

          Thanks for passing that along!

      1. anninyn +21

        20+ years of training and working as a genealogist and she finally gets on TV.
        Couldn’t be more proud of my mum.
        She works independently, is among the best in the region at what she does, and consistently fails to be made bankrupt. She works 6 or 7 days a week. She has written three books. And currently, on top of all this, she has gone back to university for a PhD.

        1. Es_Petal +3

          I am going to go and iplayer it now and pay more attention to her while waiting for my brief appearance on BBC2 later!

    2. CaptainNancy +4

      I am NOT GOOD at internetting, otherwise I’d totally find a way to watch it. Go your Mum though.

    3. bastardsnow +9

      This seems like a great time to tell Non-UK toasties about a brilliant little thing called Hola. It’s an extension for Chrome and Firefox, and lets your browser pretend it’s in another country! It’s how my wife and I watch The Great British Bakeoff on iPlayer every week.

      1. Es_Petal +2

        Oh, I wonder if it’ll let me watch Play It Again Dick on cwseed? I am guessing that my UK-ness is why I can’t get it to work… I will try that later!

  4. ArsenioB_Ham +42

    This is a good time to remind people that if they haven’t read Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home they need to GET ON IT because it is an amazing piece of work and close to perfect, in my view.

    1. Fluffernutter +8

      I’m so stoked she’s a MacArthur Fellow now! Think of all the brilliant things she’ll be able to create with that money!

  5. thinwireoflightning +12

    Another TNC article! http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/…
    This part struck me:
    “I am less than convinced by Alexander’s rendition of white supremacy as a means of cleaving poor whites away from blacks. My view on this is that white supremacy is an interest in and of itself. It’s not clear to me where the politics ends and the bribe begins. I generally think that the left tells itself this story in order to evade the political complications of dealing with white supremacy as a sensible, if deeply immoral, choice, as opposed to a con played on gullible white people.”

  6. PretzelcoatlX +9

    I also really like this write-up of Jennifer Eberhardt! Especially this part:

    Sometimes, her lessons come home. When her oldest son was in the first grade, he wondered whether blacks might have an invisible force field around them. After all, he told her, white people shied away when a black man came into the local Safeway.

    The same son (she has three), now in high school, was pulled over recently in an affluent neighborhood for allegedly speeding on his bicycle. Eberhardt and her husband, Stanford law professor Ralph Richard Banks, have had to have “the talk” that African American parents routinely have with sons, about how interactions with police can quickly escalate to force, sometimes with deadly consequences.

    It could be daunting to confirm bias in study after study, or see the subtle clockwork of racism evoked in brain scans. But Eberhardt pivots forward.

    “It’s dispiriting, but at the same time I find myself hopeful,” she said. “Society is dictating how those brain structures are responding. There are certain things about society that we can improve and change, so to the extent that we do that, we change ourselves.”

  7. Es_Petal +40

    Speaking ot TV and ‘should really be in the open thread but it’s the wrong day’ I am going to be briefly on BBC2 in an hour and a bit. Programme called ‘a year in the wild: the New Forest’ and I was riding on the pony roundup they filmed! I flash briefly past the camera, my other half, ex and sister all texted me the first time it was on saying ‘I recognised your ass’ and everyone else said they recognised my blue hair….

    1. thisclimbingbean +11

      I love that your nearest and dearest can all recognise your butt so easily 😀

      Go you, though! How exciting to be on TV!

      1. Es_Petal +2

        It was! Very funny the amount of people who came to the roundup knowing it was going to be filmed and wearing makeup and posh clothes when they normally look like normal scruffbags. Also much more whipcracking and yeehah-ing than normal!

        The clips aren’t working for me at the minute but if you can access the BBC site and they ever come back to life they’re here! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01llqrw/clips

    1. ehmgeebee +4

      My copy is coming from the reading in Chicago, so, in a month, YES I want to talk about it (but not yet).

      1. ejbaker13 +2

        I’m going to the Boston reading in mid October, but I’ll definitely be finished with it in like, a few days. It’s everything I wanted it to be.

        1. pantone292 +1

          I want to talk about it when you are done because I can’t figure out if the sense of pervasive melancholy it left me with is intended general dissatisfaction with an ugly world or dissatisfaction with actual stuff in the book!! Let me know if that sounds fun!

          1. ejbaker13 +1

            Yeah that absolutely sounds like fun. I’m two chapters in, and yes, it’s extremely melancholy, but that’s exactly what I would expect from JD.

      2. ct330 +3

        somebody JUST RECOMMENDED THIS to me, but someone else upthread also JUST RECOMMENDED Fun Home, which I have waiting for me at home, so I’m in a pickle. But, I mean, a which-book-do-I-read-first pickle is the best kind. I’m in a cornichon.

    2. carmencicero +1

      I am!! I feel a little spoiled because I read some early reviews that talked about what the “incident” is, but it’s still sooo good. I’m still in the middle, so talk to me in a few days.

  9. raqueue +11

    On a sad note: The Toast’s “Archive: Ancient Grains” on the right keeps flashing the “Toronto Meetup Tonight!” at me — keeps getting my hopes up only to be dashed.

  10. cosmia +16

    Every time someone mentions “concept albums based on books” I get really excited to make sure people know all about The Decemberists’ The Tain EP. Everyone, listen to The Tain!! It’s essentially a 21 minute song about a mythological Irish epic.

    1. pantone292 +10

      perfect except for when Colin Meloy pronounces every word in the line “your cock in her kisser” in the most disturbing way possible including the word “in”

      1. cosmia +6

        I was playing it in the house once a few years ago and my mom was like “Oh this sounds good I like this WAIT WHAT”

  11. ballisticjaguar +24

    I never knew how much I wanted Sufjan Stevens to make an album about A Wrinkle in Time until reading that article. Such a perfect match-up.

    And now I must go listen to Illinois again, because I haven’t in years.

  12. littlehuntingcreek +32

    That Scotland is deciding their fate as an independent country with ballots, not bullets, makes for a refreshing change. This is pretty historic.
    Now hopeful that Texas and South Carolina follow their lead and secede as well.

    2. Beakses +5

      Eh, give Texas 10 or 20 years for some of the white dudes to die off and I expect it will turn into an entirely different state anyways, what with the increasingly urban and diverse population and the zillions of people moving here from other states on a daily basis. Or the entire state will run out of water and the whole thing will be a moot point. (Not a native Texan, but as a resident I’m rather fond of being part of the US and would prefer to carry on as such).

  13. Frumiosa +28

    I just envisioned JFK and Marlene Dietrich hooking up and inviting Marilyn Monroe in for a 3-way and my mind exploded with hotness. Of course JFK would feel pretty left out eventually.

    1. twobluebikes +11

      Apparently, JFK liked his women on top, doing all the work while he just lay there. So it would totally serve him right if the Marlene and Marilyn just left him the fuck out of it all.

      Also, I know weird things about JFK.

  14. manalz +11

    okay the first time I reread Sultana’s Dream after discovering the Toast I wondered if Mallory was the reincarnation of Rokeya Hussain. Because. Yeah.

  15. Frumiosa +23

    I JUST WANT TO SAY that my one-sided-but-very-deep relationship with Alison Bechdel goes back to when I started reading Dykes to Watch Out For in the pages of the local alt weekly (remember those?) when I was 13 and it blew my mind. DTWOF is still the best comic ever and I hope she brings it back one day. I have been blissing out for the past year or so as everyone else has gotten on board Bechdel Planet, and the MacArthur grant is filling me with glee.

    Also I saw the Fun Home musical (which was great), and she was there in the lobby after and I was a fangirling idiot and probably annoyed the shit out of her but NO REGRETS.

  16. ct330 +30

    ‘You need not be afraid of coming across a man here. This is Ladyland, free from sin and harm. Virtue herself reigns here.’

    oh did you mean MY ACTUAL UPTOPIA

    1. ct330 +22

      I became very curious to know where the men were. I met more than a hundred women while walking there, but not a single man.

      i want it like burning

    2. m98widow +39

      I have been painfully aware this week of just how unconscious men are about their bodies and how much space they take up without a single care about inconveniencing anyone. Which is on one hand sort of something to aspire to for me, to not worry about taking up space, but also really fucking annoying. Like – just yesterday, a dude straight up sat on me on the train, slamming himself down on my leg and pinning my shoulder back to the seat without even looking to see where I ended and his part of the seat began. Yesterday I also played chicken with two dudes walking shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk completely blocking my oncoming path so that I was going to have to step into the street, but I held my ground and one guy turned sideways at the last second and looked really suprised about it. In line at Boloco two guys, each over a foot taller than me, stood so that they blocked the entire aisle and no one could get by, including me even after I said excuse me. And then I got squished against the wall in the elevator for like the fourth time this week. And yet I have been taught to fret that my thighs might extend a teeny bit into the seat next to me on the train or that I might possibly be inconveniencing someone for one teeny tiny second while I reach for something off the shelf at the supermarket.

      In conclusion, I would like to at the very least vacation in Ladyland for a while.

      1. Absotively +32

        I kind of suspect that they do know how much space they take up and they take care not to inconvenience each other. It’s hard for me to picture a dude sitting on another dude because he didn’t notice him.

        They certainly don’t care about inconveniencing women, though. I’m with you on that.

  17. bird_internet +39

    Ai-jen Poo got a MacArthur Grant?! Woohoo! She’s a labor organizer who works with domestic workers (read: elder care and care for people with disabilities). It’s a workforce that’s like 90% female and heavily immigrant. These folks get treated like dirt and have historically been excluded from the most basic labor protections. And a lot of powerful dudes are throwing a fit about it now that they’re trying to get organized and assert their rights. Next time someone asks you why we still need feminism. . .

      1. Hththe1st +27

        I feel like she’s earned the one that was previously Mom’s. Mom now needs a new one for herself.

        1. PRockette +10

          They both get new ones. Mother/daughter shopping trip. (The prude hiding inside of me died a little at that though, to be honest.)

    3. victorytasteslikehashbrowns +9

      Oh god the advice was to cut her off! That’s just cruel. Also … there are families willing to use the same sex toys.Wow. Just wow. Different strokes I guess?

        1. deleted7410012 +11

          i just stifled my laughter with a snorting/choking noise that was…much worse than actual laughter would have been, in this quiet quiet office.

        2. abbeyroadmedley +4

          Okay, you are killing it. You just made me choke-laugh TWICE in the span of like two comments with this one and the One Direction fanfic crack.

    4. mkpatter +9

      These were my first thoughts: “Oh my god, I hope it’s clean.” and “Man, I WISH I knew about vibrators when I was 11 and not 18.”

      But yeah, cutting her off is absolutely the WRONG THING to do, ffs Prudie, way to live up to your fake moniker.

      1. Unreadaethel +3

        I mean, it’s not like Prudence said that this girl should never masturbate, and that her mother should shame her, just that Mom needs to take her vibrator back, and tell the girl to find other ways to explore her sexuality.

  19. Hththe1st +7

    Why have I never heard of Naomi Mitchison??!!!?? She wrote 90 goddamn novels! She was an Inkling pal! It’s fucking insane to me how we keep letting our history slip away just to have the same arguments all over again about whether or not it’s Too Soon to let women into the speculative fiction field.

  21. elsamac +17

    I can’t resist pointing out that The Fella is a contributor to that A.V. Club article: he took my brainstorming suggestion of Magnetic Fields/Tristram Shandy* and improved it to Magnetic Fields/Pale Fire.

    Before you lament a woman plugging for her husband, let me share that he is a vegetarian of 25 years who likes to surprise me with steaks and chicken pot pies, that he gives me due credit for my best jokes even on Twitter, that he tirelessly praises and plugs even my smallest publications, that he is a bringer of cakes and a cleaner of living rooms. I never even consider taking to the sea.

    *and really, Magnetic Fields was a poor match on my part. Elvis Costello/Tristram Shandy would have been a better suggestion: a whole album full of slightly-too-witty erudite diversions until the end of time.

    1. LeastBittern +5

      You know you can take him with you if things get ridiculous and you need to go to the sea. Probably cooking in a galley is tough and confusing work; always bring someone who already cooks to make your food.

  22. mkpatter +6

    I can’t believe how great that Most Feminist Moments in Scifi History is. Like, was not expecting that from The Cut at all! Definitely have like, three new books I want to read now, because I CANNOT read another scifi novel by a dude like, ever again. (Unless it’s Kim Stanley Robinson).

    And I am SO NOT too good for a historical hookups chart, are you kidding me!?

    I’m also sad that we don’t get to see the full deleted comment from that prince among men* who started listing things that aren’t misogyny or whatever.

    *sarcasm

  23. Smitty +5

    My favorite album/novel combo is the album Haunted by Poe, and novel House of Leaves by her brother Mark Danieliewski. I have read the book several times, and have had to stop myself from picking it up again recently, cause I tend to read it obsessively, staying up til 3am when I have to get up at 5:30!

    1. gripyfish +6

      I’m impressed you can read House of Leaves after sundown; when I read it in college, I took to keeping it in my dorm fridge with a chair in front of it at night.

    2. shinkickmorning +2

      whoa, I had no idea they were siblings! I figured she was a fan of the book because of the song, but I never realized they were related. This is like Fiona Apple and that dude from the Sentinel.

  24. LeastBittern +4

    What the even hell is going on with the last two paragraphs of the archeology article? “Oh look, these three houses are build concentrically; it seems like they are holding each other up!”

    So he’s conflating modifications a son made to his dad’s house to the results of genocide and theft of land from the Miwok. That is super great, high five.

    1. LeastBittern +5

      Maybe his parents read “Love You Forever” to him too many times, and he is confused about what parental relationships should be.

  27. Jen See

    Apparently, JFK liked his women on top, doing all the work while he just lay there. So it would totally serve him right if the Marlene and Marilyn just left him the fuck out of it all.

    Also, I know weird things about JFK.