Mosquitoes and Essence [#52]
Selamat pagi from Bali, where we're celebrating my 2nd daughter's 2nd birthday. Her main birthday girl demand was, "NO SINGING! NO SINGING!" (I dutifully obliged, despite my unabashed appreciation for the karaoke arts.) The next day she was feasted on by ravenous mosquitoes, which reminded me of this Smithsonian explainer on why some of us are mosquito magnets.
What I Read
A study of our "attentional awareness." Taxonomy of humans, according to Twitter. Suitcase space maximization. Scientists annotated the NYMag story about earth being uninhabitable. “The worst problem on earth.” Charter 08, the declaration of rights that landed Liu Xiaobo in prison and won him a Nobel Peace Prize. The "most Chinese" Chinese character. Noam Chomsky on this particular political moment. Gird yourself, things will get worse. Stop trying to analyze Trump. "Crackpots and ideologues" are molding Texas, and the results are not appealing. Sexual consent should be taught to children. "I’m not sure that even well-intentioned men understand how relentlessly degrading this presidency is for many women." The power and the toll of powdered heroin. Academies for becoming internet famous. The inconspicuously rich. A roundup of all the 4:44 discourse. Why top tennis players are old dudes. Japan's amazing plastic food replicas. A true banana tragedy.
Work and Other Musings
How North Korea marked July 4. Seoul reacts with a meh. The US Embassy Seoul's annual July 4 party doubled as a car show this year. The unappealing options for the North Korea problem. "Elise Tries" Japan's purikura booths. And food to prevent choking to death. Why I’m a journalist, for a new textbook edited by Aaron Chimbel.
Watch/Listen
The Chance the Rapper Tiny Desk concert/poetry reading.
Burn After Reading, an overlooked Coen Brothers film, was ahead of its time. On rewatch, it captures our political moment perfectly.
Recommendations
Missha Time Revolution Essence. I'm waaay too lazy to partake in standard Korean 12-step skincare routines, but I do endorse this Missha Essence. (You slap it on after toner and before moisturizer.) I tried it for three weeks straight and my skin is definitely brighter and more even.
Summer reading? Of the books I read on my recent leave, I recommend:
The Answers, Catherine Lacey (If you can get past no one being very likable)
Scrappy Little Nobody, Anna Kendrick (If you don't mind learning a lot more than you need to know about being a child on broadway)
Dear Ijeawele, Chimamanda Adichie (Shorter than a New Yorker piece, so, if you want to say you read a book this summer, go with this one)
As we wrote in 8th grade yearbooks, "Have a kickass summer,"
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