Link Roundup!

by Roxane Gay · January 16, 2015

Greetings, friends and happy Friday.

Los Angeles is a city of mystery and wonder. Save the tiles!

On the ground floor of a run-down, four-story building at 217 West 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles, on the block between South Broadway and South Spring, is one of the city’s greatest interior-architecture treasures: an enchanting installation of custom tiles that renowned Pasadena artist and tile innovator Ernest Batchelder created for the Dutch Chocolate Shop one hundred years ago, in 1914.

Though it has been recommended to me many times, I have not yet seen Broad City. It’s on the agenda. In the meantime, here’s a great profile of the show’s creators.

The first time I met Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, they were wearing Rollerblades and Glazer was psyching herself up to simulate sex with a giant oak tree. Tucked out of view on a shady forest path in Prospect Park on a warm day in September, the stars and creators of Broad City were filming a scene for the sixth episode of the second season, called “The Matrix,” in which the best friends decide that they are too plugged in to the onanistic hive mind of the Internet and decide to go off the digital grid for a single day. The pair get separated, and without smartphones to reconnect, go on separate spirit quests — Glazer’s involves rubbing her bottom on the grass, rolling up leaves and dirt to craft (and smoke) a makeshift joint, and eating weeds from the ground on her hands and knees. For the denouement of her walkabout, Glazer has clothed intercourse — to completion — with a tree, still wearing skates, kneepads, and a bike helmet. Jacobson, who had quickly exchanged her blades for more comfortable Nike sneakers, was coaching Glazer from behind a camera monitor, the two chatting away over headsets, though they might as well have been communicating via ESP.

There is also a great profile of Jill Soloway in Elle.

People often ask Transparent creator Jill Soloway if she saw it coming: the moment when her parent, formerly known as her father, came out as transgender in 2011 at age 75. She didn’t. And when it did happen, it wasn’t as dramatic as one might expect. There was no “before-and-after moment of the big reveal, like a reality show,” she says. Instead, she and her older sister, Faith, who is now a writer on Transparent, each got a phone call and were left to begin the process of re-getting to know the person who’d raised them, just as that person was for the first time getting to know herself as a woman.

India is the surrogacy capital of the world and Rakshka Kumar takes a look at the industry and the women who aren’t protected by its machinations.

Divya is 28, in her seventh month of pregnancy and a surrogate for an Australian couple in their 40s. (Her last name has been withheld because her family members are unaware she is a surrogate, and because of the stigma that surrogacy carries in India.) This is not the first baby Divya has carried that is not her own — there was another in 2010, for an Indian couple. She is one of the millions of surrogates who help to generate 24.8 billion rupees in revenue each year and, along with roughly 3,000 clinics that provide in vitro fertilization, have turned India into the surrogacy capital of the world.

Because surrogacy is legal but not regulated, surrogates like Divya are subject to exploitation by middlemen, clinics and would-be parents, say women’s health advocates. Last month, India lost another opportunity to regulate its multimillion-dollar surrogacy industry, as the country’s Parliament failed to pass the Assisted Reproductive Technique bill, or ART, during its winter session, citing a lack of time. Critics of the bill say it doesn’t do enough to protect surrogates, but most agree that it would be better than nothing.

There are writer interviews and then there are writer interviews. Here’s one you will actually want to read featuring Butter favorite xTx.

ENCLAVE: You move to Montana to get away from it all. Turns out Ted Kaczynski, the one and only Unabomber, is your neighbor. He comes over the second night you’re there and confesses his twisted plans. What do you do?

xTx: With Ted there is a warm ringing and we embrace like brothers begging before our brutal step-father.  This, after our hands were writhed.  A progression of understanding, compassion and love that knit the evening.  His beard I breathed.  This, after I shaped his jaw with my palms. A mandible meaty and wide.  Strong. The beard a white cloth covering a David. It was hours I listened.  The pour of wine deep between us.  It was not minutes it came to that, it was one decade.

I moved to Montana a ten years-lonely woman who wanted to die underneath a sky I would never deserve.  The shame in that heating my loins. When Ted appeared on my doorstep, madness in his gaze, I clung to him like a bundle of rebar thrown into a very deep lake.  A quick and easy way to go down.

No one will ever know Ted the way I did.  The mushroom-smell of his hair.  The way he’d hitch and Gollum-sputter nonsense sounds in between monologues.  How he agreed to a promise he eventually kept.  How, these years later, I still keep that promise, metal-tubed and ticking underneath my mattress, Ted-set for a day he doesn’t want me to wake up.   I often wonder if it will be the same day of his not waking.

I often pray for that.

If you’re looking for a prom date, the rapper Riff Raff will hook you up, for a price. I don’t even know what to say here.

Remember that glitter bomb service? It’s a little too popular. LOL EVERYONE IS AWESOME.

Tags: ,

Related Posts

Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay

More from Roxane Gay →

86 Comments

  1. ramina +5

    I was hoping that first link was going to be about Toynbee tiles (hey, this would be a good subject for Scare Yourself Silly maybe?) but it is so much more than that, wow! They’re stunning.

    2. lauralizabethm +3

      Have you watched the Toynbee Tiles documentary? It’s called “Resurrect Dead” and it’s really fascinating- and I don’t want to spoil the ending, but the finished product was much more kind and gentle than I would otherwise have expected from a documentary about creepy street art.

  2. sausagedog +9

    Three things about LA’s Batchelder tiles:
    (1) Wow, are we sure that’s not in Milwaukee? It really clashes with my idea of everything in LA being slightly green or blue.
    (2) http://www.tilenut.com/Batchelder/dig/index.html – This fellow’s site was linked in the Curbed piece. He is a tile enthusiast and this is his story. It’s a pretty nice story!
    (3) What are peoples’ thoughts on architectural salvage? The Curbed article seems somewhat anti, like shutting away Batchelder tiles in your private residence is a rude and selfish thing to do, and I see their point because I like pretty stuff to be available to me to look at. But on the other hand, as long as you’re legally obtaining salvage, and it’s not, you know, Elgin Marbles-type cultural pillage, is it so bad? I don’t have a strong opinion, I guess, but I’m curious what people think.

    1. houblonchouffe +13

      I looooove architectural salvage. Love it, love it, love it.

      To me it’s a matter of preservation. If there are some spectacular stained glass windows rescued from a to-be-demolished building and you save them, you save part of that building and part of the history. If you aren’t in a position to display them to the public, you’re still saving them.
      ETA clearly this does not apply to cultural theft.

      1. sausagedog +8

        Makes sense, I do feel like it’s far more common that beautiful pieces are lost to demolition than just pried off of perfectly good walls and stuck in some venture capitalists mansion. Though nowadays I think we’re trending more towards repurposing buildings in their original forms rather than tearing down and starting new, which is also nice. I’m a sucker for the “fancy bar in what used to be a church/bank vault/one-room schoolhouse!” thing (although it does open some uncomfortable avenues for gentrification).

        1. houblonchouffe +5

          Yeah, that’s super tricky and I struggle with it a lot (full disclosure that I work for a historic preservation nonprofit).

    2. threatqualitypress +20

      I feel like I rate it in order:

      1) Preserve public architectural treasures for public display
      2) Privately salvage for public display
      3) Privately salvage for private display
      4) Steal it for public display
      5) Steal it for private display
      6) Trash

    3. lemonadefish +6

      I think it’s great to salvage nice parts from buildings that are going to be demolished. However, it’s very hard as a consumer of salvaged things to know if this is what’s happened. It’s very common for people to break into vacant buildings and take all the good bits, making the building less attractive to buyers and setting off a chain of decay…

    4. leslieellenjones +4

      Holy crap. I briefly dated the tilenut. He dumped me two weeks after my father died, telling me I was “too cerebral.”

  3. ppyajunebug +88

    Why would you take Riff Raff when you could take your father-husband to your prom?

    SORRY NOT SORRY IT HAD TO BE SAID.

    1. winterbymorning +48

      I was yawning widely when I read your comment and started to laugh and the two combined into a profoundly disturbing Goofy-esque “HYUUUK HYUUUUK” noise and my cubicle neighbour is scared of me now, so thanks.

    2. ramina +31

      We’re gonna Rick Astley the hell out of this article (in the sense that we’re never gonna give it up)

          1. keristars +11

            ngl, every time I see Fandom Wank memes pop up on the Toast, I feel a little bit like I’ve come home

      2. winterbymorning +62

        We’re no strangers to love
        We’re related, but why’s that bad?
        A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
        It doesn’t matter I’m actually your dad!

        And if you’re worried about inbreeding
        Who even knows how genetics work? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

        (…)

        We’ve known each other for so long
        But let’s not think about that part too much
        I’ll help with homework and with wedding plans
        You need a firm and loving father’s touch

        And if you’re asking how I’m feeling
        Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see (that I got morning wood from cuddling with you on the floor)

        &c…

    1. winterbymorning +45

      Let’s be real, she probably climbed on top of him with the intention of leeching his body heat to keep herself warm, and decided to go along with the whole “hero cat” thing because everyone started showering her with food.

      1. bird_internet +34

        Ehh I think she just wanted to get inside a box and didn’t even notice there was a baby in there

        1. lemonadefish +24

          Probably she was slightly annoyed at the lump in the box, but not annoyed enough to get out again.

          1. citizenchristy +15

            Meanwhile, my strongest feeling on the situation was disappointment over Yahoo UK using the baby as the leading photo rather than a glamour shot of the heroic, since that meant I had a Facebook post with a baby on it rather than a cat, which is JUST NOT RIGHT.

          3. V_Hardapple +4

            I was skeptical until I read that she meowed and followed the people with the baby when they found him and took him out (awww!), but now I’m realising that she was probably just sad they were taking her own special warm lump away

  5. smeesmeesmee +12

    I loved the new episode of Broad City but specifically the ridiculous dancing that occurred, from the dancing on the subway guy who did the funny walk with his legs crossed on his knees, to Abby’s greetings to the (was that Bed, Bath and Beyond? I imagine so as she’s always banging on about it? Is that a real shop name? I’m not American) people working in the large shop.

    1. rhymeswitheight +11

      Yes that was Bed, Bath, and Beyond and it is the real name. They sell a shitton of stuff – furniture, lamps, beauty products, kitchen stuff… and bed and bath stuff. I LOVED the secret handshake/dances with Abbi and the employees. They just went on and on.

      1. smeesmeesmee +3

        Next time I’m on holiday in America I shall go to one and try to dance with the employees.

    2. tragicallyludicrous +4

      Bed Bath and Beyond is, indeed, a real thing. My mom always refers to it as Beyond. Last time I was in one was because we needed Hanukkah supplies and everywhere else was out. While getting our candles we spotted one of the Denver Nuggets and his girlfriend (I assume) also buying a ton of Hanukkah stuff.

      1. smeesmeesmee +11

        I am smiling at your explanation for one American thing as it leaves me not knowing what another American thing (the Denver Nuggets) is. I presume a sports team, although I find their team name quite funny. Nuggets!

        1. tragicallyludicrous +2

          Yes! It’s the basketball team of Denver (where my parents live). I think they’re called that because of something to do with mining? Whatever, it’s a funny name.

  6. AmazingSandwich +24

    Have editorial ethics at Grantland changed substantially since they drove a woman to suicide?

    1. projectbeks +5

      Have editorial ethics at Grantland changed substantially since they drove a woman to suicide?
      I am going to admit to my complete ignorance on this topic. What the what now?

      1. AmazingSandwich +8

        Last year, Grantland published a piece by journalist Caleb Hannan that was ostensibly about a mysterious woman and her potentially revolutionary, potentially woo-woo-trash golf putter design. Instead the story was an in-depth expose of the woman’s transition history. She killed herself either shortly before or shortly after it went to press–I don’t recall which, but there are a ton of links here and in the comments. The Toast also published a piece by Parker Molloy that criticized it. To my knowledge, Grantland never responded beyond a non-pology and defense of leaving the story up (links in the comments of the first piece).

      1. AmazingSandwich +3

        Me neither. Thanks for your comment. I remain confused as to why they have continued to feature in Link Roundups, however infrequently.

  9. sausagedog +18

    Just found this: http://luckypeach.com/the-state-of-ramen-david-ch…

    David Chang says, no one but David Chang should be allowed to make ramen, because David Chang is the only person who didn’t use the Internet to learn how to make it, instead digging through peoples’ trash to reverse engineer noodles. We used to make skyscrapers. Now there’s Kardashians. Etc. Sigh.

    1. rkfire +15

      There’s a 13 year old who just did nuclear fusion in a jar and there’s another 13 year old who trains eagles..

    3. osutein +28

      Is there anything more tired than the “I used to love this esoteric thing but now it’s popular and everyone but me is doing it wrong and it’s all garbage” piece?

      Also, the very idea that ramen only became big in Japan around 2000 due to the Internet… is, um, staggeringly wrong. The goshdamn Ramen Museum in Yokohama opened in 1994.

  10. honnlove +9

    That surregacy story was heart breaking. I wish I could say something more constructive but it still shocks me at all the different ways people take advantage of those living in poverty.

  12. projectbeks +2

    Oh my god. Wow. Thank you for the links. I genuinely had no idea.
    ETA – this is in response to AmazingSandwich

    4. Unreadaethel +4

      “Harry had summoned one two years earlier, perched atop his enormous mountain of privilege.”

    5. DishKit

      #YesAllWitches

      “Ice Balls” must be a schoolbus because it took me on a feels trip. I’ve never read anything like that and I’m glad that I have now.

  14. letteradicorsa +15

    I need help! Please pass this on to your tech person: The-Toast.com is making my computer act all wonky. I happens whether I’m work (yes I’m bad) or at home. It’s fine for about a minute, but then everything starts to hang-up and spin and slow down, then becomes nonresponsive, and I end up having to do a hard-shutdown and reboot.

    This happened to me once before, when I had a subscription to the Economist. I suspected their brand new “cookies” policy was so invasive that my security software probably perceived it as a threat. I had to cancel my subscription and vow never to visit their website again. I’d hate to have to do that with the Toast! I NEED MY TOAST! help!

    1. llama-j +6

      I’m not a tech-saavy person at all, but I am curious about this, because someone posted in last Friday’s open thread, “Our Editors might not like this but I use a plugin to block Javascript, there is a LOT of weird tracking/ad/social media crap embedded in The Toast.” I have no idea if that’s the case or not, but it made me wonder if that was part of the reason the site is so difficult to load sometimes.

      1. Maryaed +3

        Blocking Flash worked for me but I wish the editors would get the message that a site you have to block Flash in order to use is a problem. I don’t know who does the web programming (and I am not a programmer), but I’m guessing Flash must be getting called a whole bunch of extra times on every page view or something, because it really does freeze up constantly when it is enabled, even on a reasonably fast computer, and in different browsers. If you contract out the web programming, can you hassle them about the site performance?

        Loyal Toast readers apparently are disabling Flash and not seeing the ads, which won’t be good for advertising revenue in the long run, and you won’t want new readers to quit after a couple of page views.

    2. Absotively +7

      Try blocking Flash. If you use Firefox, click the Lego block that’s just left of the web address and then click Block Plugin. If you use Chrome, click the little sheet of paper and then change the Plugins permission. I don’t know how to block Flash in Internet Explorer.

      2. letteradicorsa +1

        I want to do this – – what do you mean by “the little sheet of paper?” I use Chrome. Thank you so much in advance!

    3. nicoledieker +11

      Thirding that The Toast has something a little off with the site. I feel like I have to quickly read all the articles before FREEZY TIMES or LOUD MUSIC TIMES or SOMETHING WEIRD TIMES happens.

  15. samaraweiss +5

    We have all seen Los Angeles Plays Itself, right? The movie that celebrates Los Angeles’s beauty while sharing my transit rage? (“Nobody walks in LA,” my foot we don’t, you mean well-off people don’t walk; the rest of us keep the grass off the sidewalks and the buses crowded.)

  17. BessieMaeMucho +6

    I work in admin at an elite, non-Ivy, university after a bunch of years as a classroom teacher. The article didn’t contain any surprises, but summed everything up damningly. Until we start recognizing, as a country, that we need to invest in every child as we would for the ones we consider to be “our own,” we’re going to keep getting this of monstrous result.

  21. Maryaed

    Those results track pretty well to the income correlation with the annual state performance tests that are used to rate (and sometimes close) public schools, and in part to evaluate teachers, as well. Which means that well-off schools are "successful" (because their wealthy students do better on standardized tests) and less-well-off schools easily "fail" and get closed due to underenrollment. (Since under No Child Left Behind, schools that fail to noticeably increase their standardized test scores get special letters sent to their students inviting them to jump ship, with free busing to a "better" school if there is one.)

    So it starts way back in elementary school. It isn't some special property of the SATs. Students in poverty do worse. You can't teach people out of poverty in an economy where their parents can't get ahead.