PicoBlog

Welcome to the Convivial Society, a newsletter about technology and culture, broadly understood. Before my detour into writing something about Vision Pro, the previous two installments had been a bit more reflective and meditative. This installment is written in a decidedly different mode. It proposes a thesis that I think helps clarify some of the weirdness of our moment. It is at once a commentary on techno-optimist manifestos, the perception of cultural stagnation, effective altruists and effective accelerationists.

In last week’s Friday Food Finds edition I mentioned the cookbook Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts by Claire Clark. I got this book when I was living and working in England pursuing my love of cooking and baking. Feeling homesick for homemade baked goods like chocolate chip cookies and brownies — which I just didn’t have the resources to make at the time — I took comfort in the American recipes from the book.

Thoughts of “September 2023” have been lodged in the back of my mind for the past three years, and now, somehow, we’re actually here. If you’re new to this newsletter, I’ll catch you up: My debut cookbook, Pasta Every Day, hits shelves in just 12 days, and I am thoroughly excited (read: nervous) about it. September 1st also marks one year since I started on Substack (where does the time go?

Thanks for this post and the podcast - THIS is real journalism. Thanks for carrying the torch that the mainstream press left behind! Sorry to hear about your family's loss, but just like Everett Waller, you are indeed walking in a legacy... Again, excellent piece and great that the little guy wins. But one question I had after the podcast. You mentioned that the lawsuit was over minerals - specifically the rock that was mined for building the wind towers.

BTS is marking its 10th anniversary this week, and fans all over the world have been celebrating in their own way. In Seoul, skyscrapers, bridges and major landmarks are lighting up in purple to mark BTS as a source of national pride. And over the past week, fans all over world have been sharing memories and listening to BTS songs from the past decade. As for the BTS members themselves, they’re marking the occasion by sharing letters and endearing behind-the-scenes pictures and videos from over the years.

“The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.” -Katsumoto In high school, my sister was so obsessed with Tom Cruise that she covered the wall next to her bed with a collage of magazine clippings of him, which my dad dubbed the “Tom-atorium.” She even had a life-sized cutout of his character in Jerry McGuire.

Well, well, well! Here we are at ‘Memorial Day’, another American holiday that purports to be about one thing but winds up being about something else entirely. In this case, honoring the fallen fighters of foreign wars by having a barbecue. The reason no one finds that befuddling is because the collision of several disparate elements is a holiday idea that Americans no longer question. Most of our holidays became untethered from their intended moorings and drifted off into the larger ocean of menu planning and mattresses a long time ago.

Just about every soccer club has a motto, and many clubs in England use Latin for theirs. For example, current English Premier League champion Manchester City’s motto is Superbia in proelia, or “Pride in battle”. Over in London, Chelsea Football Club’s is Nisi domius frustra, or “Unless God is with us, all is in vain.” Another fun one is Sheffield Wednesday’s: Vis unita fortior or “United strength is stronger.”  Everton Football Club’s is Nil satis nisi optimum, or “Nothing but the best is good enough.

More and more these days, I am noticing strange things when I read online. I’m not talking about typos; everyone makes typos. I will probably make a half dozen in this newsletter. I’m talking about straight-up weird writing that reads as if an alien translated something from English into Klingon into Esperanto into Koala bear and then back into English. For example. "But while as limited series, Fool Me Once will not get a second season, this performance ensures they will continue investing in many more Harlan Coben stories to come, as they already have been for years.