The prodigal blogger hath returned pickled, relaxed, and an ever-so-slightly darker shade of white.

Massive thanks to Kevin for curating last week’s links. Isn’t he great? He’s obviously too modest to plug himself so I will: go follow him on Twitter and Tumblr.

I spent a week in Croatia: 5 nights on Hvar island bookended by nights in Split. It was gorgeous and delicious, totally chill and waaaay overdue. How have your last couple of weeks been?

Strap in for teh links.

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

My podcast, Bookish Blether Episode 9 is up and it’s about Gifting Books.

On my business blog, I waxed lyrical about Podcatching (but really just about my favourite podcast app, Overcast).
 
 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

Speaking of being home, Anthony Bourdain was here last year and the Glasgow episode of Parts Unknown screened last week. As a fan of the show, it was really weird to see my home street on screen… as a bar fight broke out. Oh, Glasgow. Anyway, here’s his blog on the subject, which is of course entitled C***. Thanks, Tony.

The Lack of Female Road Narratives and Why it Matters by Vanessa Veselka, with lots of follow-up reading material (including The Truck Stop Killer). Tingles of every sort.

Love Jill Lepore’s droll yet maddening yet hilarious Why Marvel’s Female Superheroes Look Like Porn Stars.

It’s college graduation speech season, so here’s your vital reminder to read David Foster Wallace’s This is Water speech from Kenyon College, 2005. Here’s a text PDF, here’s the audio. I draw on this for strength all the time.
 
 

–– DIGITAL ––

If you can’t get enough link lists, try Jessica Furseth’s Reading List. There might be some cross-over with here, but this one was a particularly great selection.

Stealing from there, Durga Chase Bose’s Reading List for The WW Club is stellar. I’d been dithering, so bought The Lover by Marguerite Duras and Susan Sontag’s Reborn immediately after reading this.

Also from New Yorker, this guy’s personal taxonomy of Hahahas vs Hehehes correspond quite closely with mine. No lols, though? I mean, come on.

The latest in Facebook’s attempts to become the entire internet. (It already is, for a lot of people. Terrifying.)

Anna Hart on The Rise of the “Digital Nomad”. Does hanging out at my father-in-law’s in the California Central Valley summer for a few weeks each summer count?

Something I’ve considered: The Curious Conformity of YouTube’s Beauty Tutorials. BookTube isn’t so far off.
 
 

–– ON PAPER ––

It’s been a pretty great reading week, you guys. I finished 6 books – here are highlights:

The Lover by Marguerite Duras – mentioned above. It’s £2 on Kindle, will take maybe 2.5 hours to read, and holy shit do I wish I could write like that: just divine. Next purchase will be her collection called Writing, SOON.

Jesse Eisenberg’s forthcoming collection, Bream Gives Me Hiccups and Other Stories is hilarious and creative and OMG can this man can pathos the hell out of sweet 6th graders and disaffected millennials. I’m down on this whole actors with cutesy personal brands can write books now! trend (though that doesn’t keep me from reading them!) but this was excellent. It’s out in September, I’ll try to remind you.

I also listened to approximately 2 million podcasts and am really looking forward to purchasing/reading Spinster by Kate Bolick (which sounds amazing and awful all at once lolz) and Leaving Orbit by Margaret Lazarus Dean.

Got a book recommendation? Hit reply.
 
 

–– &c. ––

No lunch. You refused to buy us Lunchables, and now you must pay. Grab a seat at a standing desk because this afternoon you work an unpaid internship in dubstep. When the beat drops, admit that it is no longer feasible to put oneself through college working a part-time minimum-wage job. In the millennial revenge bunker, we can’t hear you scream over 23 years of earbud-induced tinnitus.

This Millennial Revenge Fantasy from The Hairpin made me laugh.

Let’s talk about periods! Ann Friedman is never irrelevant.

A nice feature on Amy Poeler and how she’s making herself uncomfortable.

 

​Have a lovely weekend, friends!

 

I wish this were my elevensies every day.

Yo! It’s Friday! How about that?

Worry not! This is a GE free zone. Now that I’ve decided that I don’t remember what else happened this week.

Next Friday I’ll be away on holiday in Croatia. Do you fancy guest curating Reading Week? Shoot me an email.

Have some links.
 

 

–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––

April Reads: capsule reviews of what I read last month.

Yesterday, I was also on the BBC Culture Studio to review this week’s film releases: Spooks, Rosewater, and Top Five. Listen in here.

On my business blog, I published Part 1 of 2 on how you can Spring Clean Your Content. (Will we ever tire of the word content? It feels like we say it more than we say “and”.)

ICYMI last week, Bookish Blether Episode 8 is all about Book Clubs.
 

 

–– ARTS & CULTURE ––

A really well written and critical piece on How Hollywood Keeps Out Women, by Jessica P. Ogilvie at LA weekly.

This Tumblr contributed to the conversation, too.

And related, but on a more positive note: What Hollywood Can Teach us About the Future of Work – i.e. more short-term jobs, with project-based teams. Sounds good to me!

More in movies: I enjoyed the new adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd. Stephanie Zacharek says it Means Well but Sells Its Heroine Short. I can kinda see it both ways, but this is a great read.

The national story is not just a royal one – on how royal narratives are dominating the entertainment industry. I mean, he’s right, but stories about having money, not lacking it, are just more entertaining.

 

 

–– DIGITAL ––

The Business of The Onion: How America’s Best Satirical News Source Makes Money. Interesting read, and a direction for lots of media companies to follow.

Anil Dash wrote about being Nobody Famous – what it’s like to have half a million social media followers without actually being famous.

Reform of the Nerds, Starring Arthur Chu – a feature on the Jeopardy champion who’s whipping his fellow nerds into shape.
 

 

–– ON PAPER ––

I’m still making my way through Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty.

I’ve also been prepping my Kindle for my holiday next week, with a TBR including but not limited to: All My Friends are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman; Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart; The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester, and How to be both by Ali Smith.

What about you? Read anything good lately?
 

 

–– &c. ––

Something that we know but don’t pay enough attention to: The Most Diverse Cities Are Often The Most Segregated, with some great analysis from Nate Silver.

Los Angeles and Its Booming Creative Class Lures New Yorkers – a frankly hilarious trend piece from the New York Times, which I saw comically billed right above a piece about how California is about to dry out and blow away. Maybe both are right in their own twisted ways.

How Exactly Do You Teach Femininity? Great article from Alex Morris about a stylist who specialises in helping men transitioning into women.

 

​Have a lovely weekend, friends!