Dear friends,
Last week I had shot #2 (with only a tiny bit of Pfizer Phlu afterwards). The hardest part has been having to reset my notions of what would be possible this summer (ngl, I would have been fine staying indoors and reading, just as I spent every summer of my childhood). Probably the biggest indicator of my new understanding that leaving the house might be possible is that I made
a new dress, for the first time in a year.
"By the Statute of Vagabonds (1547), under Edward VI ... brawlers were ordered to be branded ...
with F for 'fraymaker'." (Obligatory "
that's a great name for a band" comment.)
"Fashion is a monarch whose realm is hereditary, it is a Parliament which renders femininity obligatory, like public education or military service"—almost every page of
The Fashion System by
Roland Barthes is quotable, although it's not what I would call a page-turner. I'm finding this fascinating now, although a part of me is grateful I didn't read this when I was younger and far more susceptible to the lure of describing systems.
"To denote maturity (thirteen or fourteen years of age), a ceremony called
bin-sogi (
bin, temple or sidelocks;
sogi, cut) is held and the hair around the temple is cut to about one foot in length. This coiffure is limited to the upper classes."
Simon 'the stuffa' Wilson of Bovingdon is evidently
the taxidermist to watch (uh, if you watch taxidermists?) and is responsible for the "
Floating Giraffe" of Aynhoe Park. (Of course he has an
Instagram.)
"'
Shut up, humans' was a typical response to audience requests."
"Many things that today we consider routine – the posting of job openings inside of a company so that anyone could apply, formal job descriptions for every position, and so forth—were
her creations."
The
Antitactes were a sect that believed that the "true Christian must show his adherence to the Omnipotent by breaking the laws of the Decalogue,—the more the better."
If you can't decide between Wolverine and Batman, good news—
you don't have to choose.
Cacholong is a kind of opal (also called
Kalmuck agate); turns out it makes a very pretty
polar bear clock.
Here's hoping you too are on the road to full vaccination—
Your friend,
Erin