PicoBlog

In the South, those held in slavery often did not wear shoes. They weren’t always given shoes to wear, particularly in their younger years, or the cheaply made shoes they were provided quickly fell apart and were not replaced. By itself, not having shoes was a minor deprivation compared to many other things they also had little of in their lives — freedom, food, basic clothing, any human rights, a family life, simple medical care, the list goes on.

Susan Blount, my sister, is a get-out-the-Democratic-vote activist in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Her organization, Neighbors on Call, focusses mainly on house-to-house canvassing in support of progressive state-legislature candidates, but it also recently hosted a rally addressed by Heather Cox Richardson. Here is my by-no-means-batshit sister's explanation of Joe Biden's recent wretched debate performance:             "Somebody slipped  him a mickey."             Makes sense to me.             It's hard to believe that a mere cold, or advanced age, could render a seasoned politician, at such a crucial moment, unable to clear his throat.

The other day, I was eating a ham sandwich at my desk. At the same time, I was also reading an article….while jotting down an outline for a future post. In the heat of the moment, it didn’t occur to me the absurdity of what I was doing, until it came time to swallow. I nearly choked. Thankfully, my food didn’t get caught in my windpipe, but I should have known better.

At the end of last week, Arley and I realized that it had been quite some time since we last went bird watching. So this past Monday, we bundled up and braced the windy cold to see what we could spot. To our delight, we identified a flock of Smews at a nearby lake. This beautiful bird has been quietly living right under our nose for the past few months. After we finally took the time to pay attention, we couldn’t help but go back three more times this week.

Happy Sunday—Snake is a design intelligence newsletter. Below is this month’s Lore: a deep dive into a designer or brand’s history, with pricing and relevant items. I’m focusing here on Raymond Loewy, Frenchman, and his important pieces, rough market values, where to get newer repros, second-tier items, knock-offs... Included are price values—deal, steal, and fair pricing—so you know what to pay. Older Lores are here. LORE 006 Raymond Loewy was a French designer who worked mostly in the US (from 1919 until he retired) and who was number one here while he rocked it; his work and reputation then shakes out much different than his legacy now… it is hard to overstate how successful he was at his peak.

G'day Fearmongers, It will be of no surprise to the listeners of A Rational Fear that Australia's future security is tied to the USA. So whatever our big brother on the other side of the world is going through, we'll share the pain. 🐳 Made evident this week with the news that the big AUKUS submarine deal that was struck a couple of years ago is already slowly falling apart with the US Congress deciding that they're not going provide Australia with one of the refurbished subs as part of the deal, because their shipyards are falling behind in production and can't supply their own country.

Monday’s Vanity Fair headline: Mike Johnson Said He and His Son Monitor Each Other’s Porn Usage, and Yeah, It’s Exactly as Weird as It Sounds. The new Speaker of the House, we learn, has the Covenant Eyes app on his phone. So does his teen son. Covenant Eyes doesn’t block any websites, but it does issue weekly reports to a designated accountability partner. The app flags content that may be inappropriate -- generally, pornography or “porn-adjacent” material -- with the idea that the accountability partners will then discuss the reports.

Dear Lunatics, Bad news: the moon landing has been pushed back to 2027. Part of the holdup is the seemingly never-ending process of crafting new spacesuits, for which NASA has dedicated $3.5 billion. What’s wrong with the Apollo suits? They got the job done, right? Apparently, they were absurdly dangerous, cobbled together with rubber joints, metal cables, and a crotch-to-shoulder zipper that could easily burst. They were also heavy. According to one French astronaut, wearing the spacesuit “felt like being in a coffin with a window.

A film for little children? Yes, by all means! Why not? Except you become as people who would delight in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, you shall not even know what goodness is about. Sometimes Debra and I feel like people on a far mountain, where the noise of the world can’t reach us, or at least it subsides into a low hum, while silence, full and rich, returns, and with the silence, messages from another world.