Weekend Reading

  • To Everyone Who’s Just Barely Holding It Together
    I remember a lot of days feeling like an egg; an intact shell that looked smooth and clean, with an inside that was messy and maybe even rotten. You’d have to break it to find out, I guess, but it never quite broke. A thin membrane was all that was keeping it together.
    If anything in this article hits home. Stop reading. Go do something good for yourself instead, walk in the sunshine, have a long hot bath. Make time for you (awesome, amazing, you).
  • The stupid reason that larger clothes fit so badly
    A common complaint among women who wear sizes 16 and up is that if they can find items in their size at all, it’s even harder to find clothes that fit well. More than just an annoyance, the problem can be dispiriting and humiliating, and leave women feeling excluded from fashion.
    File under: isn’t it obvious that people are all different shapes and sizes, and that’s ok?
  • Inside the Insane Feud Between a Vegan Strip Club and the Steak House Next Door
    Nine years ago, Casa Diablo, the world’s only vegan strip club, opened in—you guessed it—Portland, Oregon, with a veggie-based menu and a ban on fur and leather onstage.
    First thought ‘Vegan Strip Club’ what the what?
  • The psychological importance of wasting time
    There will always be an endless list of chores to complete and work to do, and a culture of relentless productivity tells us to get to it right away and feel terribly guilty about any time wasted. But the truth is, a life spent dutifully responding to emails is a dull one indeed.
    Step away, step away.
  • The Accidental Get Away Driver
    They wore no coats. They just shivered there, in the crisp night air. And to the cabdriver who slowed to study the three men who’d called for a ride, this seemed strange. It was January, after all, and the temperature in Santa Ana, California, had dipped into the 50s.
    Amazing how a few quick interactions can take you places you don’t want to go.
  • How Ed Sheeran perfected the art of being a mainstream misfit
    People are seeing Ed Sheeran everywhere these days — even in the most unexpected places. It’s understandable that everyone seems to have Sheeran on the brain these days: The 26-year-old has officially reached global pop culture ubiquity.
    Question. Ed Sheeran, how?
  • Forever and Ever and Ever: Uncanny Doubles in ‘The Shining’
    Mirrors, ghosts, doppelgängers, reflective surfaces, repetitions, and perfectly symmetrical frames…these are just a few cinematic devices which Stanley Kubrick uses to create an uncanny atmosphere in his 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining.
    I could read articles like this for days. Geektastic.
  • People think juice is good for them. They’re wrong.
    Mrs. G. came to our offices for her first visit distraught. Her primary-care doctor had just diagnosed her with diabetes, and she was here for advice. She was shocked by the diagnosis. She had always been overweight and had relatives with diabetes, but she believed she lived a healthy lifestyle.
    Smoothies are the future? I actually like EATING my fruit.
  • The Many Ways in Which We Are Wrong About Jane Austen
    We’re going to be seeing a lot more of Jane Austen. 2017 is the bicentenary of her tragically early death at the age of 41. And by way of celebration, the Bank of England is introducing a new £10 note with her face on it. Actually, it’s not her face.
    You learn something, well a few things, everyday!
  • Stephen King on The Great Fictional Monster of Our Time
    The worm that destroys you is the temptation to agree with your critics, to get their approval. “In the dining room, there are flowers and candlelight and harpsichord music — ‘If Love Now Reigned,’ composed by Henry VIII in 1510.”
    High praise from someone like King but he’s not wrong. Quick word association for you. Hannibal.
  • You’re not going to believe what I’m about to tell you
    This comic was inspired by this three-part series on the backfire effect from the You Are Not So Smart Podcast. I would also like to thank my wonderful girlfriend Theresea for calling my attention to the backfire effect in the first place.
    READ THIS, please please read this. It impacts all of us, you, me, everyone.
  • A Rare Journey Into the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, a Super-Bunker That Can Survive Anything
    In the background of Colorado Springs, Pike’s Peak dominates the sky. But just to that mountain’s southeast looms another geological ripple. Cheyenne Mountain—a rounded, rocky thing that rises 9,565 feet above sea level—looks wild and quiet.
    Fascinatingly scary place.
  • Watch Queen’s Stunning Live Aid Performance: 20 Minutes That Will Give You Goose Bumps
    “The last people anyone expected to come out of that gig as being the memorable ones was Queen,” said Bob Geldof in an interview, looking back at the band’s stunning 24 minute set at Live Aid on July 15, 1985.
    Watched it live. Stunning then, still stunning now. Miss you Freddie.
  • Bombay Sapphire gin recalled in at least 3 provinces for containing too much alcohol
    Liquor authorities in at least three provinces are recalling a brand of gin that may contain almost twice as much alcohol as it should.
    Boooo to authorities, give us the boozy boozy gin!!