3/8 - Lisan al Gaib is a bird, ACOTAR commentary, and a skirt that will change everything
Friday’s Newsletter
Everyone’s talking about “Dune this” and “sand walking that.” Open your eyes sheeple - sandpipers have been attracting sand worms with little tip tappies long before your super long fantasy novels.
It begs the question - was Pixar’s 2016 animated short, Piper, a telling of the true Lisan al Gaib?
It’s not for me to decide.
:)
Thought Starters
Another chapter in the decay of Twitter
*article*
░L░I░N░K░I░N░B░I░O░ - a cultural criticism folded into a meme. Bots are everywhere on Twitter but this issue began before Elon Musk took over. It’s another bullet point in the ongoing conversation about the late stage of social media apps. Companies prioritized profits and growth over their users and a million little decision led to porn bots all over Twitter, sifting through ads to see your friends’ content on Instagram, and the flood of AI generated posts on Facebook.
This is called the enshittification of social media- side note: it feels like every other article in the past two weeks about the dark side of big tech mentions this word, coined by Cory Doctorow in November of 2022. I get that it’s a pithy and visceral explainer of that thing we’ve been trying to put our finger on but I’m personally curious about the adoption of this word in our lexicon over a year after it was first published. Not me, but someone, should look into this plz.
“And as cuts to content moderation coincided with the introduction of profile boosting for paid users, a pathway for those persistent porn bots begging for you to check out their digital giblets became so noticeable that it inspired its own brand of memes.”
“Chafkin, who wrote a piece about how the next big app might be just nothing, says that social media companies gambled on the idea of endless growth and the idea that people would always be comfortable with spending a third of their days racking up screen time. ‘The more time people spend on [social media], the more money the companies make. And so as a result, they're all maximizing for engagement. So this leads to a cultural problem, and then there's maybe a business problem.’”
Our gal, AHP, takes on ACOTAR
*newsletter*
Anne Helen Petersen read all of the books in the A Crown of Thorns and Roses series for her podcast and delivers her thoughts about the plot and the immersive experience of bandwagon-reading a series that’s taking the literary community (aka BookTok) by storm.
I haven’t listened to the podcast but as usual, I found Petersen writing about the feelings I couldn’t articulate while reading this series.
What box do you put these books in?
How does an author’s writing evolve over time, especially when the series’ experiences wild popularity?
There are spoilers in the last third of her newsletter but in dissecting the plot points Peterson outlines that the author, SJM, while breaking a lot of stereotypical fantasy tropes still holds onto some vaguely troubling ones. This newsletter was a fun reflection of the cultural impact this series has, coupled with her hot takes on the series’ protagonists.
“ACOTAR sex is fun and revelatory and passionate; it is a means of both release and communication. (Some people are very concerned about teens reading these sex scenes, but as anyone who’s been a teen will tell you, they’re going seek out representations of sex somewhere — I’d much rather it look like this than 98% of other representations).”
Things to do
International Women’s Day Panel at Butterfly Club
When: March 8, 6 pm
What: Butterfly Club is hosting a panel today with their founder and several of the slow fashion brands they carry. Doors open at 6 pm and the panel starts at 7pm. There will be plenty of mingling time before and after the panel to give you the opportunity to make some new friends in the design and slow fashion space.
Happy Medium opens in Greenpoint
When: March 9 - forever 🩷
What: Happy Medium is expanding to Greenpoint and opening this weekend. They are christening this location with a series of art cafe experiences: “just like a restaurant but you order art experiences instead of food.” This upcoming weekend is sold out but you can check out the link below to book for the following week.
Climb Time with Wishlist
When: March 30, 10 am
What: *MARK YOUR CALENDARS - BIG DEAL ALERT* That’s right! I’m hosting the first ever Wishlist meet up and we’re going climbing at Brooklyn Bouldering Project. Make some new friends and have an excuse to invite old friends to hang out in a new place. All are welcome and I’m looking forward to meeting you IRL!
Brands
Caspar the Label
*apparel*
There’s a reason over 50% of their inventory is sold out. Their collections are romantic and other worldly. This is the modern Edwardian fashion we’ve been looking for.
If you’ll indulge me - I can envision wearing the skirt below, sprawled out, under a honey locust tree in Central Park, lazily reading something from the Brontë sisters - a breeze whispering hints of a saxophone being played in the distance. That sounds like a Belle Époque dream which can happen with or without this skirt, but let’s be honest: the skirt enhances the vibe.
What is it? Venus Mini Skirt in Black
How much? $115
Products
Heartini Riso Print
*art*
Momo Gordon is an artist that uses graphite and gouache on handmade paper. Her still lifes are immersive yet minimal. She has originals for sale on her site but she also created a limited series of prints, which are produce using a risograph which is like a digital screen printer that produces very vivid colors and crips lines.
What is it? Heartini Riso Print
How much? $25