Weekly Links for December 22nd
A quick programming note: you may notice this email looks a little different! You're not imagining things. I'm trying out Buttondown.email in lieu of Substack because I really appreciate their business model. If you hate this, or have feelings, you know how to reach me
Happy Solstice! 冬至おめでとう！ Time for the days to start getting brighter again. I hope you fill your week with libations, and friends. Here in California, it's a little chilly, but I'm kept warm by 3 cats in three homes that I'm hanging out with (including Snorri of course). Cats don't have a single clue what holidays there, but they do know it's cold and dark, and just want to cuddle and nap. I think this is an excellent idea too.
While you're staying warm and enjoying a Nogavit (egg nog + aquavit = delicious, trust me), I bring you a week of links:
-
I don't write a lot about gender these days, but because I have to dress up for something today, I thought about the concept of Tomboys. Maybe you were one, or fell for a few, or were jealous of our panache. Regardless, here's to the rad ladies who, for however long, said fuck you to frills.
-
Since you read newsletters, I figure you might also be interested in the idea of a personal web. This isn't a new concept by any stretch of the imagination, but lately the zeitgeist seems pointed towards smaller, personally-owned and operated sites.
-
My friend Darius wrote about building your own small-scale social network, and Fast Company wrote about it too. Whether you create an activity pub site, or just invite your pals to a private Slack instance, I bet you'll feel better in 2020 engaging in smaller, meaningful community.
-
Sometimes community is folks along a path, or in a small kissaten in Gifu. Craig Mod wrote for Eater all about his quest for pizza toast. I miss Japanese toast every time I travel there, but milk bread is decidedly not my friend.
-
If you're still hungry for content, I recommend my friend Colin's. She's hella smart, funny, and in a past life ate a ridiculous amount of pizza and wrote about it.
As this email sends to your inboxes, I'm off to a friend's wedding. Here's hoping it'll be delightful and full of love. Enjoy Week 51, space cowgirls~