D&F 9-27-20
Everybody watch out, I own a laser now. Far from being a futuristic laser pistol, it’s a much more banal home hair removal laser. As a trans lady, the ‘ol hormones left me with some annoying dark facial hair that I’ve mostly blasted off, but in quarantine time I’ve been unable to finish my treatment. So, if you hear some yowls coming from emeryville, that’s just me.
This weekend is also a great breadmaking weekend here. I’ve really figured out my bread recipe after months, and this is looking awesome.
Finally, it’s also time for the Formula 1 race in Russia, which hopefully will lead to a more interesting championship fight. I’m still excited for Lewis to clinch more lifetime records, as he clearly deserves all of them. However, I’m also excited to see some up-and-coming racers really making a name for themselves. I hope in the near future though we see more women and people of color in racing generally.
Let’s get on with…
Links
- Do you love design research? Then you’re in luck! Apparently it’s all about the caret and not the hamburger icon for accordions. Who knew!
- This document is a really awesome, and super worrying survey of the climate crisis we’re facing. I still believe somehow we will convince humanity to change tack and save our place on this planet, but it’s going to be rough.
- Remember when OnlyFans was just for cool sex workers and real, real horny content? It turns out ex-Disney stars and other random celebrities have invited and rather ruined it for the rad folks who were making money on it before. Bummer. Listen, if you’re an influencer, stick to Instagram. Fuck off everyone who is like “oh I’ll just sell my nudes” as like a fun hobby—it’s a real job, and it’s real hard.
- Second New Statesman link this week, but this one is about a rad new book site called Storygraph. I’ve played around with it for a while this week, and it’s so much better than Goodreads, especially since it isn’t beige or owned by Amazon.
- Have you ever been interviewed by someone with a real shitty agenda? Judith Butler teaches a masterclass in this interview on how to parry and riposte just such a poor interview. I remember a lot of things Butler wrote being used against trans women in the early 2000s, but it’s really nice to see them come back to restate and clarify their support of trans women and other trans folks.
- Free is rarely free, and if you aren’t paying for your hosting or web software, you’re often the product they’re really selling. I’d encourage you to think long and hard about supporting cool companies like Feedbin, and Fastmail, or even just using and contributing to excellent open-source projects like Hugo. This newsletter is sent via Buttondown, for instance, because it’s well-made, and seems to take privacy and quality seriously instead of focusing on up-and-to-the-right growth.
In conclusion
It seems like we’re going to deal with COVID for another year at best, which is pretty frustrating. I hope you’re registered to vote, and are involved in local politics as well. We need better leadership, an more representation from folks of color, women, queers, and younger people. It’s super obvious that a country run by rich white people in their 70s is just going to such, so I hope we can pushing for something better.
I definitely have had a hard time with so much of the news and the utter lack of justice for black folks murdered by police, especially Breonna Taylor. This can’t continue.
I am in this with you, and I care. Let’s keep fighting together as long as we can. Keep safe, keep resisting, and see you next week, space cowgirls~