Intro
Hello, welcome to this week’s link round-up. Tonight is a lunar eclipse around these parts, and I’ll probably step outside to watch. Should be a beautiful night.
I’m still tweaking the categories. Not sure what to call the spirituality section. Spiritual hygiene? I like the word ‘extramundane’ but it’s probably not a particularly well-known term (and at least one online dictionary defines it as ‘extraterrestial’ which is not the meaning I’m shooting for).
Art & Illustration
- Austin Kleon – There are times when Austin Kleon’s cheery optimism is exactly what I need. Other times he feels a little too self-helpy and naive. I do love the peeks into his notebooks, and hope that if I follow him long enough I’ll adopt elements of his notebook practice.
- Colossal – One of my favorite art sites. Always worth checking out.
- Juxtapoz – Another favorite art site. One of the few magazines I subscribe to.
Books & Reading
- Speculative Fiction Showcase Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for May 13, 2022.
- 1953 was the year of peak science fiction (for magazines, anyway). The 1953 SF&F Magazine Boom.
- The finalists for the 2022 Locus Awards. So much good reading in this list.
- Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA) poetry roundup for April.
Cartoons & Comics
- Bizarro by Wayno (and sometimes Dan Piraro)
- Comics Journal weekly link list
- The Daily Cartoonist – A blog that covers comic strips.
- Far Side by Gary Larson – Yes, mostly reprints, but Larson occasionally posts new cartoons.
- Incidental Comics by Grant Snider
- K Chronicles by Keith Knight – Doesn’t update enough. The TV show Woke was created by Keith Knight.
- The Nib by various – Political cartoons
- Peyote Cowboy by Dan Piraro – The most recent episode was posted May 12.
- Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques. There’s a handy cast list here.
- Sarah’s Scribbles by Sarah Andersen
- Strange Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
- Therapy Comics by Mardou
- This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow
- You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld
Columns & Essays
- A long essay on labor from CrimethInc. “Anti-Work: From “I Quit” to “We Revolt”: Strategizing for 21st-Century Labor Resistance.”
- How WordPress and Tumblr Are Keeping the Internet Weird. An interview with Matt Mullenweg.
Extramundane & Immaterial (divination, spirituality, metaphysics, religion, faith, sacred)
- Tara Brach – I only started listening to Tara Brach within the last year. When I do a guided meditation, it’s usually one of hers.
Gardening
- Look for the website of a nearby agricultural college for primers on gardening. Here’s a good place to start for Florida gardeners. I planted a bunch of okra this weekend.
Horoscope
- Free Will Astrology for May 12.
Humor
Movies
- I use JustWatch to see on which platform a movie is streaming.
Music
News
I assume you already have your preferred news source(s). Here are news sources I use to supplement my news diet.
- Wonkette – I love the cursing and share their love of Molly Ivins.
- Popular Information – independent investigative journalism.
- WikiNews – Wikipedia has a news page. It can be kind of hit or miss, but I always use it when I’m following a big breaking news story.
Politics
Will they or won’t they? Members of Congress using subpoenas against other members of Congress is likely to end up in court. “Enforcing unprecedented subpoenas for GOP lawmakers turns on complex legal precedent going back centuries.” Or, it may not…
“Yet there is a catch. Because speech or debate provides legislators with immunity from both civil and criminal lawsuits, the clause prevents courts from hearing certain types of cases. And even when immunity does not apply directly, the clause may grant members with protections against the introduction of evidence or having to testify about certain actions if they relate to a legitimate legislative purpose.”
Scholarly Article of the Week
“Archaeology and Animal Persons: Toward a Prehistory of Human Animal Relations” by Erica Hill.
ABSTRACT: The discipline of archaeology has long engaged with animals in a utilitarian mode, constructing animals as objects to be hunted, manipulated, domesticated, and consumed. Only recently, in tandem with the rising interest in animals in the humanities and the development of interdisciplinary animal studies research, has archaeology begun to systematically engage with animals as subjects. This article describes some of the ways in which archaeologists are reconstructing human engagements with animals in the past, focusing on relational modes of interaction documented in many hunting and gathering societies. Among the most productive lines of evidence for human animal relations in the past are animal burials and structured deposits of animal bones. These archaeological features provide material evidence for relational ontologies in which animals, like humans, were vested with sentience and agency.
Wikipedia Post of the Week
Coda
Internet/blogging stalwart Jason Kottke is taking a sabbatical. He left this link list to occupy your time while he is away. Perhaps some of them might make it into your own rotation.
The Kid Should See This, The Morning News, Waxy, Colossal, Curious About Everything, Open Culture, Drawing Links, Clive Thompson @ Medium, Cup of Jo, swissmiss, Storythings, things magazine, Present & Correct, Spoon & Tamago, Dense Discovery, Austin Kleon, NextDraft, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Poetry Is Not a Luxury, A Thing or Two, The Honest Broker, Interconnected, The Whippet, Craig Mod, Why is this interesting?, Sidebar, The Prepared, Life Is So Beautiful, Fave 5, Sentiers, The Fox Is Black, and Scrapbook Chronicles.