I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person who noticed the issues with the narrative framing for The Help. Unfortunately it sounds like the problem extends from the marketing for the book and movie to the structure of the movie itself. Erik Childress at eFilmCritic comments: Aibileen and Minny are wonderful… View More

For me the events of September 11 happened in the evening. I had just arrived in Japan to begin a year studying abroad, and had barely settled in. The next morning we were to have a vocabulary quiz. During the evening we'd been practicing our vocabulary and someone, maybe me, had needed a soda. Down in the common area, the TV had been set to CNN, which was the only real international channel we had available. The first plane had just… View More

One of the habits that I am most glad to have started last year was buying a hobonichi techo, a fancy planner from Japan. There is a whole community online devoted to people drawing and writing in their hobonichi,… View More

I'm pretty much always up for a good beta, getting in on the new features and fixes at the expense of minor annoyances. I'm pretty patient with the broken bits too, knowing that they should get better over time. In the mean time, I just keep filing feedback and work around them for now. To take a sideways jaunt for a moment, one of the major tensions explored in sociology is the one between agency and structure. Agency can be very… View More

Having spent a few weeks on Micro.Blog, I have a few thoughts on the functionality and interaction between a home blog and the M.B system. Yes, I'm going to be That Party Guest, but as the platform is developing I think it is important to discuss where the design intersects with experience. One feature that I appreciate is that initial posts start from your home blog, keeping your… View More

It's errand day and we need lunch. We pull up to a Subway, one with an old bright yellow awning. One I've driven past many times over 20 years but never entered. The front door opens to a hallway, blue-grey carpet stretching ahead. To the left, a tax office with a sign printed in black and white inkjet. To the right, the wood veneer hollowcore that leads to the Subway, cheap gold handle hang loose. Inside, we order, joking with… View More

I am excited, as always, to order my Hobonichi for next year. The idea of the larger 5-year techo is invigorating--thinking of crafting a book over that much time that would be a central repository of ideas and experiences. But it's also worrisome in that the benefit of the dated daily planner is in its ephemeralness: There's no point in hesitating because you're uncertain about your writing or your art. This is only the one day, and tomorrow… View More

The first time I was told about third-party apps made to reblog photos on instagram, I was just confused. The social network had been designed without that functionality in order to focus on original contributions, so I couldn't understand why people would be think a third-party workaround would be a good thing. On tumblr, reblogging is built in, so doing it is inherently beneficial for both parties. The sharer gets interesting content, while… View More

Finally got around to watching Search for the Wilderpeople. It's a movie that really demonstrates how something can be outright silly at time while still having something meaningful to say.[note]But in all seriousness, how did Taika Waititi end up doing Thor: Ragnarok. It was an amazing thing but… View More

Rachel Sugar over at Vox argues that lifehacks represent the sinister push toward greater efficiency. While I agree that often they can be symptomatic of the Western push toward doing more in less time, lifehacks are not inherently so. The lens by which we approach our actions matters. Lifehacks can also be a form of mindfulness, wherein we are… View More