PicoBlog

Looking back on 2023, one of the things I’m most proud of is hosting the Year of Jane virtual book club. Together we read all of Austen’s six finished novels. I wrote up weekly reflections and posted discussion questions. What a joy! It was a time-consuming endeavor, but one I really, really enjoyed. It was so fun to see both veteran Janeites and brand new readers of Austen sharing insights and pointing out things I’ve never noticed.

Hi paying AWKSD subscribers! Welcome to the first entry of the Unauthorized Serial Novelization of the 1994 Movie, The Mask. Over the next few months, I’m going to give the Jim Carrey hit the literary treatment it always deserved. Nobody stop me! I hope you enjoy. Please tell your friends and thank you for supporting me.  There should be a warning at the start of this movie.  Like, big serious letters that say: Prepare to have your world rocked.

Hi everyone, In theory, it’s around the time for a new newsletter, but before I get composed enough for one of those… It’s no secret, though for some it might be a surprise, that Palestinians have been living through forced evictions and untold violence. The violence, in particular, has accelerated. You can read more about the history and the current struggle here at Decolonize Palestine. You can also check out this Palestinian Solidarity Reading List at Verso Books if you’d like to do a bit more of a deep dive, which includes free and discounted books.

Welcome to a new weekly series called “Haute Garbaggio” in which I will layout a bunch of different thoughts. This is a lot better format than dedicating entire posts to various ideas and is a great way to get a lot of content from me in one sitting! This post will be free (for the time being). But if you want to support this content, consider subscribing for $6/month or $60 a year at this link below.

The story of Zepto is a fascinating one.  It is the story of a 10-min grocery delivery startup that sprung out of nowhere and became a soonicorn ($900mn valuation) in just a year. It is the story of two 19-year-old Stanford dropouts who made it to the Rs. 1,000 crore club. But, this is the side of the story that sells. The story with all the glamour and fame. Today, we will look at the other side of the so-called success story of Zepto: a story that involves a third co-founder, an unheard name.

(Photo: Flapane for Wikipedia) New York City has many iconic structures that define it to the world. Some, like the Brooklyn Bridge, the Chrysler and the Empire State buildings, are state of the art examples of architectural and engineering genius. They are all great in their own right, and are all symbolic in their own ways, so it’s not surprising that the Unisphere joins this pantheon as a symbol of New York City and American ingenuity, as that was its intended purpose, after all.

Slowly but surely, young Frans Krätzig is playing his way onto this Bayern Munich team. On Wednesday, the 20-year-old played his sixth game for the first team after coming on in the 86th minute for Alphonso Davies in the 0-0 Champions League draw against Copenhagen. The four minutes plus five minutes of injury time marked Krätzig’s debut in the Champions League. Altogether, Krätzig has now played 222 minutes spread across six first-team games for Bayern.

There was something indelible about her presence. She was beautiful, yes, but she emanated so much more than just beauty. Her allure was a potent cocktail of love, desire, and fertility, and anyone who dared glance into her eyes was overcome with a thirst they didn’t know they had. Women acknowledged her power in the form of jealousy and rage, and even the most dignified of men were forced to put their dignity aside, magnetized to her in ways that overpowered their judgment and reserve.

The internet was set ablaze last week by the sight of an old rich white man at the top of his field proudly claiming total ignorance about his profession on national television: The takes came in hot and hurried. No person of colour could ever say that they had no idea what they were doing in their workplace. He was the poster boy for white male privilege. Commenters claimed that he was a Republican who was responsible for turning Kanye West into a Trump supporter.