July 27, 2025, 11:33 a.m.

Perfect Sentences, 135

Perfect Sentences

Syntax buckles beneath the pressure of empty stomachs.

“Beneath the Howl of Hunger”, Alaa Alqaisi for ArabLit Quarterly


Quartz is lovely, translucent, and pure but, frankly, a little inarticulate.

Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks, Marcia Bjoernerud


And a lot of my favourite like Canadian poetry is like, "British man looks at mountain, goes insane,” like “Mountain too big, can't handle it."

Hannah McGregor on The Allusionist podcast

Submitted by Ranjit.


If gold is the equivalent of a pet rock, then I can confidently say that oil is the equivalent of playing host to a herd of feral cats; it demands constant vigilance and maintenance.

“That Time I Tried to Buy a Barrel of Oil”, Tracy Alloway for Bloomberg

I know this article is very old, but I think about it so frequently. Just so fucking good.


Even with the crew cut gone the crew cut spirit lived.

The Breaks of the Game, David Halberstam

Submitted by Joe.


There were also songs about guys who had turned into werewolves, true.

“For the Back Street Kids”, John Darnielle for Pitchfork


Being part of a 45-way tie for 27th place in a math contest for elite high school students is really not the kind of historic event that the moon landing was.

“DeepMind and OpenAI achieve IMO Gold. What does it all mean?”, Ernest Davis for the newsletter Marcus on AI

Submitted by Hannah.


(He's still grappling, he says with a raised eyebrow, on whether or not to include "sexual peccadilloes" and other secrets.)

“Robert Sietsema Will Never Stop Eating”, Amos Barshad for Hell Gate


the brain that can see a face in a wall outlet was always doomed to hear the voice of God in a markov chain

Cohen is a Ghost on Bluesky

Submitted by Cascadia Subduction Bro (@kieffercities.com‬).


While this critic weeps for the many who have lost their lives to this creature, including the very nice older woman who sat next to me and offered me a hard candy, I have to admit that in bringing a giant ape to New York, just to turn it loose on the city, Mr. Denham has created a one-of-a-kind entertainment.

Review of King Kong (1933) by Frankfort Whitaker for The New York Times

Submitted by James, via Emily St. James’ newsletter Episodes.


The vibe is “low APR credit card” not “respected nation state.”

“There’s One Thing Missing in the New SUPERMAN”, Celia Mattison in her newsletter Deeper Into Movies

Submitted by Neil.


A few minutes later, the doorbell-synth sound of the notifications on the agents' phones chimed in a staggered rhythm eliciting a moment of eerie silence and long stares.

“What ICE Agents Talk About When They Think Nobody Is Listening”, Liv Veazey for Hell Gate


Melvin and Howard would be a curiosity in Jonathan Demme’s filmography if not for the fact that his entire filmography is a collection of curiosities.

“Jonathan and Howard”, Bryan Miller for Bright Wall/Dark Room

Submitted by James.


Yes, it leads to a basket, but at what cost to the communal spirit?

Diary entry by Che Guevera

Encountered in a TikTok.


Homer told a story and so did Einstein; so do General Motors and Donald Duck.

“Hazards of New Fortune”, Lewis Lapham for Harper’s

Via Henry Freedland’s “Motet for the Record” for Lapham’s Quarterly.

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