Recent Reading: Tokarczuk's Flights

 I have recently been reading Olga Tokarczuk's Flights with a good deal of pleasure. Much of what I love about the work of

Recent Reading: Solnit, Pogue Harrison, Adams

 Rebecca Solnit: Orwell's Roses

Not really a biography, but an exploration of certain aspects of Orwell's

Friday Links: About Tabs, Citizen Science in ATL, MEI Packs, Wood-Fired Ovens

 First, a tab about tabs and tabbing:

https://dirt.substack.com/p/dirt-the-season-of-tabs?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMzI5NzkwLCJwb3N0X2lkIjozOTUwMzAxOSwiXyI6ImxhdlFlIiwiaWF0IjoxNjI3OTA5ODYyLCJleHAiOjE2Mjc5MTM0NjIsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yMzIxODciLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.64QlW_nl-AdQCVALWma1__jJDvrWBuQCExTjM9yjI00

(Some of our clutter is there because it's stuff that reminds us of who we want to be.)

An opportunity to do citizen science here in Atlanta:

https://urbanheatatl.org/

MEI makes the Voyageur, my favorite carry-on with backpack straps. I have ordered these as gifts several times and gotten excellent feedback each time:

https://www.meipacks.com/collections/carry-ons/products/deluxe-voyageur-new?variant=29110618751056

An old-school website on old-school woodfired ovens:

https://www.traditionaloven.com/

Thug: An Introduction to the History of a Nasty Word

Has anyone else noticed the gleeful way certain people use the word "thug"? Like it tastes good in their mouth when they say it? Like they have found a socially acceptable substitute for the N word? That anagram of "ginger," which was "taken away" from "us" by "political correctness?" 

It turns out that "thug" was brought into the English language in the 19th century to help justify the British Empire's conquest of India. So it's been doing the work of dehumanizing the racial "other" to justify violence against them all along.

https://sshankar.net/2020/06/04/s-shankar-thug-the-rhetorical-work-of-a-contemporary-american-word-originating-in-colonial-19th-century-india/?fbclid=IwAR2ud0eiL1aFU4x02wcWDYPENvh9vwjiX0zXX8wrcctKJFQOa0h6phhAY34

I knew Shankar in grad school, where he was a real standout. Proud to point at him and say "I know this guy!"