Dear friends, 

Today would have been Jacques Cousteau's 112th birthday; his grandson is planning an underwater habitat called Proteus. As far as I can tell, there's no NFT associated with it, which is a small blessing, even if Proteus does look like the kind of place where scientists unwittingly awaken ancient terrors of the deep.

I have moved to Portland, which is only slightly less damp than the ocean. Falling asleep to the sound of rain is still delightful, and unpacking and rearranging is a wonderful distraction from the ongoing slow apocalypse. (There must be some 1980s New Wave album called "Soft Furnishings for the End of the World," right? The cover is bright purple with a couch on it outlined in neon scribbles, I can absolutely see it.)

I've been joking that I've been getting in training for the Ikea Assembly Olympics (Solo Master's Division) but I guess there has been at least one assembly contest? 

If you can't live at the bottom of the sea, at least you can buy window screens that keep out pollen. Most online window screen reviews mention cats; many have illustrative photographs. (The cats mostly look thwarted.)

What I have always called 'ironic strikethrough' has a real name! Sous rature. 

Before antibiotics, people with tertiary syphilis used to be infected with malaria (malariotherapy); malarial fevers were hot enough to kill the syphilis bacteria. (I found about this reading the Wikipedia entry for Henry Heimlich, and ... well, I think there's a reason why the anti-choking maneuver is now called 'abdominal thrusts'.😬)

"With the tower orchestra, Sax aimed to combine a full range of tone colors with unprecedented loudness."

Most scientific papers aren't meant to be read aloud, but this one absolutely should be.

The 'Commonwealth gap' refers to the lack of birth, death, and marriage records in England after 1640 and before the Restoration.

Marimekko now has an online "Maripedia" of textile patterns.

Stay well, stay safe—

Your friend,

Erin