Jia Tolentino:

Blogs are necessarily idiosyncratic, entirely about sensibility: they can only be run by workhorses who are creative enough to amuse themselves and distinct enough to hook an audience, and they tend to publish like-minded writers, who work more on the principle of personal obsession than pay. The result is editorial latitude to be obscure and silly and particular, but the finances are increasingly hard to sustain; media consumption is controlled these days by centralized tech platforms—Facebook, Twitter—whose algorithms favor what is viral, newsy, reactionary, easily decontextualized, and of general appeal.

Blog still provides freedom and fun for me. I am just not getting paid doing it and that’s OK with me. I don’t expect to get paid for freedom and fun.

Lệ Quyên trả bài tốt nhạc Trịnh. Giọng cô khoẻ và phát âm rõ nhưng cách hát quá hoàn hảo nên bị đơn điệu từ đầu đến cuối. Thất vọng hơn nữa là những phần hoà âm quá chán. Album không tệ nhưng cũng không xuất sắc. Lệ Quyên chỉ làm album đủ tiêu chuẩn.

Katt is still charismatic, energetic, and pornographic. Katt’s materials aren’t great, but he delivered. The Trump jokes, for instance, aren’t edgy, but still funny as fuck. He had some standout punchlines. On driverless car, he would just sit in the back and if the cop pulls him over the officer can talk to the driver. On technology, if you interact with Siri and Alexa, you have a threesome. On relationships, he offers three-word advice: “do more fucking.” If you can get past the vulgar and misogynistic language, Katt is highly entertaining.

Slate has a new logo, types, and design. Read Julia Turner’s “Slate’s New Look” and Jason Santa Maria’s “Redesigning the Way We Work.”

The Guardian has a new masthead. Read Brand New’s review.

With the recent Aziz Ansari sexual allegation, the fiction essay, “Cat Person,” by Kristen Roupenian in the New Yorker has been mentioned. Just read it this morning and loved it.

iA:

There seems to be a weak undercurrent of old and young bloggers like us that feel sentimental or curious and want to bring back blogging. Blogging won’t save the world. But, hell, after two weeks now, we can confirm: it feels great to be back on the blogging line.

If you are one of those old or young bloggers, please join in. Drop Facebook, drop Twitter and drop Medium for original thought. Own your traffic. You can use them to engage in discussion. But don’t get lost in there. Write daily. Publish as often as you have something to say. Link to other blogs.

I am so glad to see the return of one of my favorite design blogs.

In this analytical work, Anthony illustrates how the poor design of everyday things can lead to frustrations and serious consequences including injuries and deaths. From toys to glass staircases to restrooms to healthcare environments to digital experiences, design plays a crucial role in our lives. As designers, we have the responsibility to make sure that our design is smart, safe, and inclusive. This book highlights both good and bad designs to learn from. It’s a must-read for designers.

Asshole
Bigot
Creep
Demagogue
Egotistic
Facist
Grotesque
Hypocrite
Idiot
Jerk
Kleptocrat
Liar
Moron
Narcissist
Oppressor
Pussy-grabber
Querulous
Racist
Sexist
Thoughtless
Unfit
Vulgar
White Supremacist
Xenophobic
Yokelish
Zany

At this point, nothing he says can be shocking anymore. The media is giving way too much attention. The more outrageous words come out of his foul mouth, the more galvanizing his base gets. He has nothing to lose and so much to gain. I have learned to ignore what he says and tweets. His words no longer get to me. I am shocked or mad. Nothing he says is unthinkable, unimaginable, and unspeakable. I won’t fall into his word trap anymore. I still love America and I still believe in our strong democracy. He will go down and out.

Để thay đổi không khí sau khi đọc hai quyển tiếng Anh khá dày (hơn 350 trang một cuốn) liên tục, tôi chuyển qua tập truyện ngắn của Trương Văn Tuấn. Câu chuyện đầu nói lên sự đau đớn của người chồng sau khi người vợ mang thai bị chết đuối. Câu chuyên kế tiếp kể về một cô làm gái trên xe lửa. Tất cả 19 câu chuyện có những nội dung đau buồn trong cuộc sống hằng ngày. Sách ngắn (dưới 200 trang) đọc cũng tạm được.

After reading Prum’s close observations of animal sexual activities, I have a different perspective on ducks. Lady ducks, I have tremendous respect for you. Stay strong and away from the rapists. Male ducks, if I ever catch you gang-rape a female duck, I will turn you into my blood soup (tiết canh). All joking aside, this book is a compelling scientific study of the evolution of animal sexuality and how it teaches us about our own sexuality. Let’s face it. Appearance matters. Female birds and ducks choose attractive mates to give them the best offsprings. Male Bowerbirds have to create beautiful bowers in order to get the female Bowerbirds to lek. As for the Great Argus, his only job is to make love. After that, the female takes over the responsibility of giving birth and raising the children. Wouldn’t men want to be Bowerbirds? This book is so fascinating that I read almost nonstop in the past two nights. Now I can’t get the image of the duck penis out of my head. A must-read for anyone interested in the science and beauty of sex.

Some notes

On duck rapes (p.157):

Forced copulations are pervasively common in many species of ducks, which might suggest that there’s something routine and ordinary about them, but they are also violent, ugly, dangerous, and even deadly. Female ducks are conspicuous in resisting them and will attempt to fly or swim away from their attackers; if they do not manage to escape, they mount vigorous struggles to try to repel their attackers. This can be extraordinarily difficult to do, because in many duck species forced copulation is often socially organized. Groups of males travel together and attack a single female in a form of gang rape. By attacking her in concert, males increase the chance that one of them will be able to overcome her resistance, and thwart her mate’s attempts to defend her, than if they acted alone.

The cost to females of forced copulations is very high. Females are often injured, and not infrequently killed in the process.

On duck penis (p.161):

Alternatively, [Kevin] McCracken also hypothesized that the male somehow uses his superlong penis to remove the sperm of the other competing males from the female’s reproductive tract.