BEFORE AND AFTER D-DAY IN COLOR. Via PES, probably. Read more

KITCHEN ADVENTURES: I AM AWESOME TODAY. At least in the kitchenette! For lunch I had soccas again. This time they were thin, fried brown and crispy in a thin slick of olive oil. I mixed the chickpea flour and water with a ginger-sesame vinaigrette thing; minced garlic; minced ginger; minced jalapeno; chopped button mushroom; cumin, salt, and garam masala. On the side I made a yogurt-cucumber-cilantro sauce. Then a big glass of whole milk, because why not. For dinner I... Read more

MENTAL ILLNESS AND LEADERSHIP: …”Normal” nondepressed persons have what psychologists call “positive illusion”—that is, they possess a mildly high self-regard, a slightly inflated sense of how much they control the world around them. Mildly depressed people, by contrast, tend to see the world more clearly, more as it is. In one classic study, subjects pressed a button and observed whether it turned on a green light, which was actually controlled by the researchers. Those who had no depressive symptoms consistently... Read more

I like my human experience served up with a little silence and restraint. Silence makes experience go further and, when it does die, gives it that dignity common to a thing one had touched and not ravished.–Djuna Barnes, quoted in Philip Herring, Djuna: The Life and Work of Djuna Barnes; I’m against seeking dignity for oneself as a general rule, but I liked this line a lot and I think it explains some of why I speak much more freely... Read more

CRAGGY. Via Wesley Hill. Read more

KARL MARX MONUMENT DISMANTLED, TO BE REPLACED BY CHURCH: The Google machine tells me this is real. Via WAWIV; click through to the link-within-a-link: The monument to Karl Marx at Sovetskaya Square in downtown Penza was dismantled as a cathedral will be erected instead of it, the Penza Diocese told Interfax. “A part of the Savior Cathedral will occupy this part of the square; its construction is underway,” the interviewee of the agency said. … The world’s first monument to... Read more

Я тебя никогда не заblogwatch… Color photographs of London in the Blitz. Hungover Owls: Oooohhh, I resemble that remark. Pointless street flyers. A mixed bag, but some of these are great. Via KMcB. Read more

GIANT DEMON CAT OF DC! Worth it for the terrific Master and Margarita posters alone. Read more

MICROWAVE IVORY SOAP WITH YOUR KIDS! For science. Via PES. Read more

ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP! Via PES and… maybe WAWIV? A federal court today ruled (read the court’s decision) that Louisiana’s government-imposed monopoly on casket sales in the state is unconstitutional, closing the lid on the economic protection scheme and resurrecting an opportunity for local monks to provide for themselves by creating and selling their handmade caskets. The monks of Saint Joseph Abbey of Saint Benedict, La., and the Institute for Justice, which represents the order in court, had filed suit to... Read more