PicoBlog

When modern people think of what was before the first day of creation as described in Genesis 1, we tend to think of “nothingness.” After all, we know about the Big Bang and modern science has pre-loaded us with concepts like a zero, a vacuum, and string theory and how matter comes from energy. Besides, isn’t it obvious? Before there was something, there was nothing. Right? Not so fast. When ancient people thought about the uncreated state, they thought about a vast, chaotic ocean.

I’ve always been fascinated by rock ’n’ roll casualties. The Pete Bests and Jason Evermans of the world. The members who washed out on the eve of a band’s breakthrough. The so-called “nearly men.” The footnotes to history.  That’s why I wanted to talk to drummer Mark Leon and singer Keith Thomas. Along with guitarist Denny Dias, they were founding members of Demian, the short-lived Long Island jazz-rock group that prefigured Steely Dan.

Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter. Never miss an update. You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox. Lena Petrova is a CPA and enjoys sharing her research into the world of finance, economics and geopolitics. Watch the latest video or get a recent update here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lenapetrovaRumble: https://rumble.com/c/LenaPetrovaX (former Twitter): https://x.com/Lena_PetrovaOnXTelegram: @LenaPetrovaOnTelegramLocals: https://lenapetrova.locals.com/ncG1vNJzZmiklaOusbHTq6avmV6owqO%2F05qapGaTpLpwrcGorK0%3D

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I'm currently teaching a profile-writing class. It's mid-semester, and we've reached the point where the students have interviewed their subjects and a few secondary sources. It's the point at which you have way, way more information than you can ever use, and you need to figure out what story that information is telling you before you can pare it all down. Just as I've been trying to convey to my students how to know when to speak in an interview and when to just listen, and how to wade through their many long transcriptions thoughtfully, I find myself in their shoes.

It has the power to unite the room. Liven conversation. Salvage a stagnant gathering of marginally hostile acquaintances. The cold air in the room warms as every guest inevitably stops by the ornate bowl, clutches their chest, and shrieks, “Is that shrimp cocktail?!? I LOVE shrimp cocktail!” Its magnetism is undeniable. For the unfamiliar, shrimp cocktail artfully rests chilled shrimp that have been delicately cooked until snappy, on the rim of a bowl or glass filled with a horseradish-spiked ketchup concoction known as cocktail sauce.

Ahead of a an international-tournament-filled summer, I looked at the USMNT’s depth across every position in the starting XI. Apologies/congratulations if your favorite fringe player didn’t/did land that coveted 13th-place spot at whatever position he plays: In Pulisic, you have a Champions League-level winger. In Wright, you have a dominant Championship-level winger. Outside of them, you have a few guys who struggled for consistent playing time in the Bundesliga, some MLS lifers, a guy doing well in Liga MX, a couple prospects from lower-tier European clubs and a handful of MLS prospects who haven't quite kicked on yet.

Have you ever played the game cookie clicker? If you haven’t, it is a game where you click a giant cookie in order to gain currency called cookies. The more times you click, the more cookies you get, and the faster you click, the faster you get cookies. You can also buy upgrades to increase the output of your cookies and get even more, calculating the amount of ‘cookies per minute’ you are generating.

By now, everybody knows: Bella Hadid got a nose job. The model admitted to the long-suspected surgery in a recent interview with Vogue. “I wish I had kept the nose of my ancestors,” she said. “I think I would have grown into it.” She was 14 years old at the time of her rhinoplasty. The (literally) breaking nose news was covered everywhere — digital media, social media, the group chat — and from (almost) every angle: It was fodder for industry gossip, it was an example of how colonialism came for our faces, it was a debate about mothers and daughters and body autonomy under beauty culture.