PicoBlog

“If you loathe cockroaches, you’re going to love the emerald jewel wasp.” That’s how my story for the New York Times this week begins. And I stand by it. Though I also realize many of you will find it hard to believe that a wasp can be lovable. So let’s back up a second. When I said wasp just now, I’ll bet your brain instantly pictured a yellowjacket or paper wasp.

Lang may yer lum reek (may you have fuel in your hearth and smoke in your chimney). While Scotland has many Hogmanay traditions mine is always to get out a walk on New Years Day. This morning was gloriously sunny, after what feels like weeks of rain - and as much as I love rain, sun is a welcome change. Welcome to all the new folks that signed up yesterday and wow to those of you who signed up to paid subscriptions.

Eric Kim has invited me to interview him! We’ll be in conversation about his book, Korean American, at Omnivore Books on April 2, 2022. His book is scheduled for release on March 29 and is already in its second printing!! This is a post for all subscribers. Everyone’s support is so appreciated, and I hope you enjoy. But, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to the newsletter. If you’re a paid subscriber, please leave your Instagram handle in the comments so that I can add you to my “close friends” section of Instagram.

Jim Harbaugh (top) smiling before the Illinois game. Jack Harbaugh (bottom) firing up Wolverines fans at 2016 Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Photos Courtesy of University of Michigan Photography By Steve Kornacki ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Jim Harbaugh is having fun, and that’s made all the difference the past two seasons. He’s always been a lot like his father, Jack Harbaugh, a long-time college coach himself both as an assistant and head coach.

I reject the idea that there are “bad” feelings. When people describe “positive” and “negative” emotional experiences, they are usually speaking about a different continuum: comfort. There are some mental states that are incredibly hard to tolerate. This is particularly true when we haven’t developed the requisite skills to understand, manage, and express what is happening in our heart during difficult moments. Referring to emotions as “bad” or “negative” assigns a value to internal experience.

Spectacle and opportunism are the twin engines that drive the contemporary art market, so it's never a surprise when it reaches an incredible new low as it did this past week when Johnny Depp’s debut "art" collection sold out for $3.6 million in a matter of hours. [Note: I have a policy against writing about things that exist solely to seek attention or money and possess little inherent value. And while Depp’s work falls squarely into this category, the mechanism that brought it into the public eye is deserving of conversation because it reveals so much about the public’s relationship to art and the art establishment’s disdain for the public.

It’s crazy to think that a whole decade and a half has passed since 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull paired Indiana Jones, one of the most beloved icons in all of pop culture, with Shia LaBeouf’s hotheaded Mutt Williams, one of the most hated characters this side of Jar Jar Binks.  Steven Spielberg is a smart man with great instincts. There’s a reason he’s literally the most successful American filmmaker of all time commercially and one of our greatest and most consistent entertainers as well.

I’m not the type to say “I told you so.” I am however, the type to say “I fucking knew it!” which is wholly different when you really think about. Back in late October/Early November (before I went to Dublin and was involved in domestic terrorism, and also before I went to Amsterdam and my hotel caught fire) Hollywood was a-buzz with a new haircut from none other than Harold Styles.

Remember when the Secret Service was the elite of the elite? It was the one government agency everybody could agree on. Those brave men and women put their bodies on the line to protect the president, and therefore the stability of the free world. But somewhere along the way, the agency seems to have lowered its standards a bit. Brie Stimson, Fox News: A U.S. Secret Service agent with Vice President Kamala Harris’ detail was removed from their assignment after engaging in a physical fight with other agents while on duty Monday…