Link Party: 1/30-2/3

Another art journal closeup.
Another art journal closeup.

Here’s what I read this week:

1. This article on how Taylor Swift made her career on being a victim has the Receipts. (This blog is vehemently anti-Taylor Swift. Don’t @ me.)

2. Rahawa Haile on being a black female thru-hiker on the Appalachian Trail.

3. The heart-breaking stories of Filipinos who work on cruise ships and the horrible conditions they suffer through to provide for their families. I had no idea.

4. We need to hold Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook accountable for its political involvement and non-involvement, now more than ever.

5. The story of a new homeowner and her despair sparked by paint colors.

And a bonus: My good friend Klarize took me to this wonderful wine bar in downtown Los Angeles that I’m still thinking about and know that I will return to over and over again. Find your wonderful wine bar that you’re still thinking about and know that you will return to over and over again.

Have a great week.

Link Party: 8/1-8/5

Last night at the Hollywood Bowl.

Here’s what I read this week:

1. The life of paramedics in Laredo, Texas.

2. The future of American malls.

3. Harvard’s final clubs.

4. The miseducation of John Muir, America’s highly problematic fave.

5. The oral history of the lobster roll.

And a bonus: Jenna Maroney from 30 Rock + Donald Trump = Donald Maroney.

And because I couldn't decide on what photo I wanted to use, Thursday night's Last Shadow Puppets concert at the Observatory.
And because I couldn’t decide on what photo I wanted to use, here’s also Thursday night’s Last Shadow Puppets concert at the Observatory.

Have a great weekend.

Link Party: 6/13-6/17

A new Jenny Holzer installation at the Broad Museum.
A new Jenny Holzer installation at the Broad Museum, which I visited yesterday.

I read so many great articles this week, and I couldn’t pare them down to the best six because they were all. so. great. The more the merrier. Here’s what I read:

1. Can Netflix survive in the world it created? (My take: probably not.)

2. How Silicon Valley nails Silicon Valley. (Do you watch this show?  I love it. Start watching it.)

3. This is a very emotionally difficult interview to read, but you really should read it — an interview with a woman who recently had an abortion at 32 weeks.

4. The underground economy that rules New York City’s food carts.

5. A delightful conversation about basically nothing with Paul McCartney.

6. Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and the power of the unfinished album.

7. An inside look at how Yahoo derailed Tumblr.

8. Barbara Williamson, one of the most famous radical sex experiments of the 1970s, and her life today.

9. An excerpt from a new book about Max Perkins, the editor who discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.

10. The best of the Dirtbags.

Have a great weekend.

Link Party: 5/2-5/6

I love jacaranda trees.
I love jacaranda trees. 

This week was a great week in Internet writing. Here’s what I read:

1. This new Joan Didion piece is just her notes from reporting on the Patty Hearst trial in the 1970s, and it’s still incredible writing. I am in awe.

2. America and Allrecipes.

3. The eternal magic of Beirut.

4. The stories of the first group of people to sign up for Remote Year, a program that promised both work and travel.

5. Jane Jacobs and her contributions to urban planning, in light of her 100th birthday.

And a bonus: Texts from Samuel Coleridge.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Link Party: 4/18-4/22

A photo from last night's Arcs concert. It was one of the best shows I've ever been to.
A photo from last night’s Arcs concert — one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. 

Here’s what I read this week:

1. Earning the “woke” badge.

2. The social media cabals that run the Internet.

3. The Coachella way of life.

4. How rich was Shakespeare?

5. Finding “lost” civilizations.

And a bonus: Starting at 3:28, Prince’s incredible guitar solo in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the 2004 tribute to George Harrison. Also, this tweet.

Link Party: 4/4-4/8

A little bit of rain.
A little bit of rain.

Here’s what I read this week:

1. This 9-year-old reporter and her community news efforts make me so proud.

2. This is a stupendous feature on Yellowstone National Park and its wildlife. This is a must-read.

3. The work of professional taste testers.

4. Read about the guy who recorded, tamed and sold nature sounds to America.

5. This story about a real estate family that shaped 19th century New York is a wild ride. Before the Trumps, there were the Wendels.

And a bonus: The Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History archives.

Have a great weekend.

Link Party: 3/14-3/25

Pike's Place.
Pike’s Place.

I spent an extra-long weekend in Seattle last week, so I didn’t have much time to read on the Internet / compile a roundup before I left on Thursday. That means that this week you get double the links, which also means double the partying. Here’s what I’ve read lately:

1. Kinfolk and the hipster aesthetic.

2. The Rescued Film Project.

3. How women mapped the upheaval of 19th century America.

4. What is public?

5. I fully support this case for redesigning U.S. currency.

6. A trip to the 500-year-old Jewish ghetto in Venice, one of the world’s oldest.

7. Ta-Nehisi Coates on Nina Simone and the controversy surrounding her recently announced biopic.

8. The legacy of Kate Millett’s “Sexual Politics.”

9. I know nothing about skateboarding, but I thought this profile on Jake Phelps and Thrasher magazine was fascinating.

10. The work of Es Devlin, the world’s preeminent set designer.

And two bonuses, which happen to both be documentaries:

— Regardless of whether or not you’re into fashion, you really, really, really need to watch “Bill Cunningham New York.” It’s a documentary about the street style photographer for the New York Times. It’s on Netflix. Go watch it.

— I’ve always appreciated Nora Ephron’s essays and movies, so it came as no surprise to me that I enjoyed the documentary her son made about her life and career: “Everything Is Copy.” After watching this film, I’m convinced that we are kindred spirits. It’s on HBO. Go watch it.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Link Party: 11/16-11/20

Give me a fence covered in vines or shrubbery or just general greenness and I am a happy camper.
Give me a fence covered in vines or shrubbery or just general greenness and I am a happy camper.

1. This is a magnum opus on selfies. If you only have time to read one thing in this week’s party, make it this.

2. This article really makes me miss video stores as a cultural institution. Netflix is really and truly The Worst.

3. The history of the siren on Starbucks cups.

4. The phenomenon of fake Instagram.

5. Bento box culture.

And a bonus: These teacup votives are my next DIY project.

Have a wonderful weekend.