PicoBlog

Dear friends and supporters: Inquirers sometimes ask me, “Can you point me to one text in the Bible that proves postmillennialism.” I answer, “Start with Genesis 1:1.” This is not glib snark. It’s precisely where one begins to prove the kingdom of God in Christ extends gradually in time and history and is consummated at Christ’s Second Coming ushering in the eternal state. The Second Coming does not reverse a severe spiritual decline.

I’ve been busy with my other substack (and actual paid work, can you believe it?) But this post from Italianozeki, which translates an interview with sakiizuka, has pushed me over the top. Go to the original post on X/twitter here: https://twitter.com/italianozeki/status/1781568269322944720 Here are a few excerpts: Former Makuuchi wrestler Terutsuyoshi, famous for his agility and the excessive amount of salt thrown on the dohyo, is planning his Danpatsu-shiki (hair-cutting ceremony).

Greetings and happy Thanksgiving! I previously shared with you about the story of Abraham Lincoln and how he restored Thanksgiving celebrations in America. I shared more context in the Daily Caller today; an excerpt is below: I can imagine there were people during Lincoln's day who took severe umbrage and offense at this notion of giving thanks in the middle of this catastrophic, American Armageddon. For many years following an abusive childhood, that probably would have been me.

When I was writing Momfluenced, I did some informal polling about the shit moms buy via Instagram and elsewhere. We all know that moms are sold beauty products to mask their exhaustion, mommy makeovers to eradicate evidence of creating a human, and obviously all sorts of clothing options made specifically to suit our Busy Mom™ lifestyles. But according to the 100 or so people who filled out my questionaire, moms are also prompted to buy wellness products, baby clothes, diapers, home goods, toys, books, art supplies, vacation packages, furniture, lunch boxes, parenting courses, weed, paint, and TOOTHPICKS.

I’m a chronically online NYC-based founder (of 4AM SKIN!) who is obsessed with designing and optimizing my life to keep myself happy, pretty, and busy. When Alexa Chung dropped her 40 pearls of wisdom for Vogue last year, number 35 in particular stuck with me, “When we were younger my friends and I had a mantra we would repeat in case of a run-in with an ex: “Happy, pretty, busy.” I’ve always subconsciously thought that if we lived our lives in a way that would actually make an ex jealous (and not in a let-me-post-this-disco-ball-on-my-story-so-he-sees-I’m-out-way), you would probably end up with a pretty amazing life.

Kristin Davis plays the scene impeccably, because when Charlotte screams—“I choose my choice! I choose my choice!”—you can still hear her trying to restrain her voice. The anger is involuntary, uncontainable. Charlotte is about to marry Trey, a wealthy and vacuous WASP she doesn’t love, whose defining characteristics are his Machiavellian mother, Bunny, and an emotional repression so potent that it manifests in erectile dysfunction. Ahead of the wedding, she announces, she’s going to stop working.

There are few things I like more about NBA basketball than when a player gets so hot that it seems as though they can't miss a shot, no matter where they are shooting from. The legendary video game NBA Jam captured this beautifully, for those that remember. A “heat check” is when a hot player takes what would normally be a shot that's borderline absurd because they are feeling so good and confident in their ability that they feel like they can “push it” a little.

1 My show, Tales is now up at SHRINE in Los Angeles until August 19th. Here are a few images and the accompanying text by SHRINE. I’ll be performing some new music at the gallery on August 16th from 6-8pm. Come on out. Ross Simonini is all in with art and life. He uses every possible body part to write, draw and paint. His gestural marks and fields of color are applied with pencils and paint brushes operated by hands, toes, knees and elbows.

Dear Lunatics: For those of us in the United States, tonight’s harvest moon is just another full moon. But in Asia, the harvest moon coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, a holiday that dates back to the Shang dynasty, when the Emperor of China would pray to the moon for plentiful harvests. Today, people in China still gather with family on the night of the harvest moon to release sky lanterns and gorge on mooncakes.