July 2016

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There’s nothing wrong with walled gardens. They’re safe spaces. They take care of your enjoyment and entertainment, so you don’t have to.

But there also a bit boring. I certainly don’t relish the idea of spending my days within the boundaries of someone else’s vision.

There’s a different kind of garden. It takes its name from another short story by Borges.

The Garden of Forking Paths. It is uncontrolled. It is full of possibilities. It’s… See more →

Sending my love to Lockhart.

Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone. Here, I’ll help you get started. youtu.be/8PIixoqeRoM

Glad to hear Stern is evolving, but whether it’s him or Maron or whomever, the appeal of self-loathing loudmouths probing celebs evades me.

“Being a judge on ‘America’s Got Talent’ said to him, ‘You are deserving, you are legitimate.’” 🙄 nytimes.com/2016/07/31/art…

A fantastic explainer comic from @AndyComics on how gerrymandering is keeping the GOP in control of the House. thenib.com/house-democrat…

Jack Davis is high on the list of @MADmagazine contributors who made me want to make art and make people laugh. RIP. twitter.com/MADmagazine/st…

“First female president!” is just a more compelling concept than “She has made some mistakes and is therefore a monster!”

Web designers: Want to know more about all the cool stuff SVG can do? @chriscoyier and @abookapart have you covered. abookapart.com/products/pract…

Not gonna lie; 40 has been humbling so far.

Regardless of who gives it, November’s concession speech is gonna be a hell of a thing.

I’m really enjoying @thenib’s DNC coverage. Wish I could make it down to Philly to check out their pop-up space. thenib.com/the-nib-takes-…

I’m looking forward to digging into this one. twitter.com/vlh/status/757…

Sending my love to Sagamihara.

I saw this cat tonight for the first time in more than a decade.

Thanks to @markdorison, @jeremybowers, and @blastcap for offering examples. Further reading: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_a… twitter.com/robweychert/st…

Random Q: Could a state in middle America secede? Is there a precedent for a sovereign nation geographically enclosed in another nation?

In a year full of horrifying stories, this takes the cake. An innocent rape victim jailed to ensure her testimony. nytimes.com/2016/07/23/us/…

“Let me tell you about this business. Every truck has a bat inside.” nytimes.com/2016/05/31/nyr…

Important, two-part transmission from my couch on a sweltering, lazy Saturday:

1. Rick and Morty is really great.

2. Ice cream is too.

“The entire idea of America is about believing impossible things. Nobody said those things had to be benign.” medium.com/welcome-to-the…

Sending my love to Munich.

Read the whole thread. twitter.com/cshirky/status…

This Luke Cage trailer is such an unapologetically puerile male power fantasy, I am embarrassed on its behalf. youtu.be/Ymw5uvViqPU

Began the day by reading the transcript of Trump’s nauseating RNC speech and two different fact-checks of it. Am I doing Friday right?

FOUR MORE YEARS youtu.be/ln3wAdRAim4

Episode 3 of Stranger Things immediately followed by real life power failure. Not recommended.

Shameless and awful. twitter.com/tuesdaybassen/…

Adulthood’s chief mistake was in remanding me to my own custody.

A great breakdown of how the super rich funnel insane amounts of money into politics, enabled by Citizens United. thenib.com/dark-money

Good morning. twitter.com/washingtonpost…

Entrepreneurs: looking for a problem to solve? Here you go: when I want to clap for the band but there’s nowhere to put down my beer.

Yeah, so @TheActualMuffs kicked all of the asses tonight, so wherever you are, if your ass is hurting, there it is.

Sending my love to Ankara.

The stomach-turning story of how the Cleveland cops that killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice avoided indictment. gq.com/story/tamir-ri…

I’ll just leave this logo here.

A great new design with lots of delightfully novel touches. twitter.com/FictiveCameron…

This project is amazing, and she followed it up by becoming a 2016 @usairguitar national finalist. BEAST. twitter.com/Marquina/statu…

Hey designers, if you’re in NYC (or want to be), @TheAtlantic is hiring, and it sounds like a pretty great gig. authenticjobs.com/jobs/27647?r=r…

Sending my love to Nice.

Today’s soundtrack. youtu.be/yCF8JU30gXI

I’m looking for a good vacation read, preferably in contemporary horror or neo-noir, but I’m out of the loop on both. Any suggestions?

Fingers crossed for a Trump/Gingrich GOP ticket. Nothing says traditional family values like two dudes with a combined total of six wives.

GET IT OFF ME KILL IT WITH FIRE twitter.com/stuntbox/statu…

As a dataset aimed at finding solutions, though, the absence of perp stats is conspicuous, and kinda victim-blamey. twitter.com/robweychert/st…

Excellent, approachable, interactive deep dive into the available data on gun deaths. fivethirtyeight.com/features/gun-d…

Of Ray Parker Jr’s suggested scenarios, an invisible man sleeping in your bed is really the only one that merits calling the Ghostbusters.

Come on, Mundruczó, it can’t be that hard to get Baha Men on the phone these days.

Heavy rotation all summer. …ivingoutsidesocietysshit.bandcamp.com/album/trans-da…

“Guns don’t kill people; people do.” OK. From 1980–2008, men committed 89.5% of US homicides. Can we talk about men? bjs.gov/content/pub/pd…

Most satisfying joke I finally got years later: “…and show me how to get down” in @alyankovic’s “I Want a New Duck.” youtu.be/cagunwJ6v6k

In my diminished cynicism, I hadn’t even thought of Pokémon Go’s obvious reason for being. twitter.com/jenseninman/st…

Before Election Day, support your ideal candidate. But on Election Day, if they still have no chance, your vote for them lets everyone down.

“…one set of struggling people… pitted against other… struggling people by someone who has known little struggle.” newyorker.com/magazine/2016/…

This song about one scene in Friday the 13th Part IV is a rare alchemy of obsessive, funny, and bittersweet. NSFW. avclub.com/article/jon-la…

Sending my love in all directions. Everyone take as much as you need.

We’re better than this. We have to be. twitter.com/washingtonpost…

Here’s a great FAQ for people who are skeptical that systemic racism is still very prevalent. facebook.com/Fy0d0r.D0st0ye…

Our war on drugs casts such a wide net that even easily verifiable innocence won’t necessarily keep you out of jail. twitter.com/robweychert/st…

“[A]uthorities re-examined a sampling of cocaine field tests… found that 33 percent of them were false positives.” propublica.org/article/common…

“[I]f Google offers to make us immortal, we should check first to make sure we’ll have someplace to live.” idlewords.com/talks/sase_pan…

“Donald Trump has retweeted at least 75 users who follow at least three of the top 50 #WhiteGenocide influencers.”
fortune.com/donald-trump-w…

Sending my love to Baghdad.

1. I was not at all invested in any of the characters (nor did I find the villain even mildly intimidating), despite the fact that they were introduced over thirty years ago in one of my favorite movies. The great J.K. Simmons gives the only enjoyable performance, and it’s wasted on a throwaway character.
2. I usually roll my eyes a bit at nostalgic, anti-CGI Luddites, but this is one of those films that completely validates their… See more →

In honor of the 25th anniversary of T2’s release, I watched Terminator Genisys. It didn’t go well. boxd.it/akAs1

25 years ago today, my dad – aglow from a golf win – agreed to take me to opening night of Terminator 2. One of my favorite memories of him.

So last night was fun. twitter.com/beep/status/74…

Wonderful piece from @adactio digging through the generations of thought that produced the amazing World Wide Web. adactio.com/articles/10887

Okay, maybe my previous tweet was half-baked. twitter.com/AoDespair/stat…

Whatever you’re feeling good about, a six-hour bus ride can cure it.

Analysis of our love/hate relationship with celebrities is a worthwhile endeavor, so long as it is not conducted by celebrities.

Reminder: This is tomorrow! And I heard a rumor about a special Windhammer performance. twitter.com/robweychert/st…