Hello Thursday!

Looking ahead, I see that this Saturday is Halloween. I hope you all have a happy Halloween, celebrating in whatever way you choose. I’ll probably be rewatching Hocus Pocus while handing out less candy than I’m prepared to — because of the geography of my neighborhood, trick-or-treaters normally end up taking routes that skip my block.

But anyway, the fact that Halloween is on Saturday this year makes me think of the many ways our calendar is suboptimal. Suboptimal in this case because Halloween should always be on a Friday. That way, kids can have a Halloween party at school, then go trick-or-treating that night. Meanwhile, adults can have their Halloween parties that night without having to worry about having to get up early for work or church the next morning. But, of course, our calendar wasn’t planned. It just grew: lunar cycles were superimposed on solar cycles, with civil, historical, and religious observances accreting on top like barnacles. It’s really kind surprising that the system works as well as it does.

Things to check out online

• For the 22 October 2026 issue of James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter (if you aren’t one of the 3+ million subscribers already, I’d recommend becoming one), a quote from Julia Child on learning to cook that I think applies equally well to learning anything else: “The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” I’d add to this that it’s important to be willing to be a beginning in public, so that people can help you learn. This is something that became more difficult as I got older, up until I decided it didn’t. When I was in my 40s, I made a conscious decision to be okay with saying “I’m new at this. I have no idea what I’m doing. What do I do next?”, and this has made a huge difference. By relieving myself of the burden of always having to look like I know what I’m doing, I’m now able to learn a lot more with a lot less stress.

• Hand-Painted Porcelain Sculpture Celebrates Sonic the Hedgehog’s 35th Anniversary — Created by luxury porcelain brand Yoyoyo, these beautiful hand-painted figurines of Sonic are done in the style of Arita ware, a Japanese porcelain style dating back to the 17th century. It’s being produced in a limited edition of 50 pieces, priced at ¥1,000,000 (US$6,374.95) each.

• Major K-pop agencies skip Grammys’ new Asian pop category — A brief rundown in case you haven’t been following this story: The Recording Academy announced an Grammy award for Best Asian Pop Performance, to be presented for the first time next February. However, unlike the other categories at the Grammys, which are defined stylistically, this one is defined linguistically: “music that is performed substantially in an Asian language.” Many people felt (validly, in my opinion) that this was an effort to keep K-pop groups out of the main pop categories. BTS declined to submit their songs for the Best Asian Pop Grammy, as did Stray Kids, thus ensuring that the biggest K-pop boy bands would not be represented. Then, Blackpink’s latest release was disqualified from the category because too many of the lyrics were in English. Then, the “Big 4” K-pop agencies staged a de facto boycott of the Best Asian Pop Grammy. The Academy has said they’re still going to move forward with the Best Asian Pop award, but I feel like the first awarding (at the very least) is going to carry an asterisk with it.

What I’ve been reading:

Since last week I’ve finished reading

• Cozy Companion, vol. 28 

• The Turbulent Appearance of Brise Collier (Natalie Kelda) — I received an ARC of this book, in hopes that I would be able to give it an honest positive review. As it turns out, those hopes were justified. This ended up being a very interesting book. The interactions between the paranormal and historical aspects were well-handled, and (to the best of my knowledge) the historical matter seemed accurate.

• A Dubious Clamor (Marissa Lingen) — Jenny Lind. Gilbert & Sullivan. Disraeli. Parliament. Magical swords. Harpies. Harpies?! Yes, harpies. You’ll find all of these things together in this beautiful book and you’ll love the story that brings them all together. (Disclosure: the author is a friend of mine) 

• Africa's Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat (Bénédicte Savoy) — When I was earning my master’s in art history and museum studies, one of the things my program did that I really liked was that the descriptions of the classes that you got to read when you were choosing your classes for the upcoming semester also included a recommended reading pre-class list, so that you could be sure you were going into the class with at least the minimum required background knowledge. I particularly remember doing the recommended pre-class reading for my second semester in the program, when I was taking the methodology course that was required of every student in the program. The pre-class reading included The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe’s Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War (Lynn H. Nicholas) and Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World (Sharon Waxman). I was horrified. I entertained thoughts of dropping out of the program — apparently I was training the ranks of truly horrible people! I wish Savoy’s book had been available at that time, and I’m going to contact my former professor to recommend this book be added to the pre-class reading list — it still ends in defeat (the subtitle gives it away), but you do get to see people fighting on the side of what’s right, and the epilogue ends on a hopeful note.

I’ve continued reading

• ArtForum, April 2026 

• What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?, vol. 1 (Jeong GyeongYun, art by Kim MyeongMi)

• Of Cats, Giraffes, and Mice (inkheart9459)

• Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (Thomas De Quincy)

• Perspectives on History, March 2026

and I’ve started reading

• Shielded in the Shadows (Lisa Edmonds)

• Cozy Companion, vol. 29

• The Brightest Fell (Seanan McGuire)

• Once Upon a K-prom (Kat Cho)

If you missed any past Thursdays, you can access the archives here.

And as always, THIS NEWSLETTER CONTAINS 100% HUMAN-CREATED WORDS.

Have a great week, and I’ll see you next Thursday,

Jason