Springtime Curated Curiosities
A bit of history, music, Italy, and fun to distract you from the world on 🔥🔥
I’ve noticed a strange thing lately with people in my general sphere. There is an underlying oh fuck feeling about what is going on in the world, but it’s so bad and so harrowing that no one knows how to address it. It’s the proverbial elephant in the room in so many conversations. Sure, we’ll joke about the price of eggs, and our new oligarch overlord, but people I used to be able to talk about the state of the world with often don’t want to talk about the state of the world. And truth be told, I don’t really want to either. There may be donations and protests happening on the side, but in our day-to-day lives, there is a collective This is Fine thing going on.
And well, as I said, I don’t really want to go there. But let me give you a brief tip. If you are trying to limit your information about things that are decidedly not fine, but want a few headlines daily to keep you informed, the newsletter, WTF Just Happened Today, will help you out.
And if you need to stop your doomscrolling, here’s how you can break that habit.
But back to the distraction from those things that aren’t fine! Starting with this…do you even know the origins of our fiery meme above? Turns out it was created by a fellow man from MA, over in Easthampton, Spencer Buell, back in 2013. But even more fun is that he’s teamed up with Numskull Games to create a platformer video game!
Moving on to those of you learning a language, I’ve mentioned Lingopie, which connects into YouTube, Disney+ and Netflix. It’s a wonderful way to learn a new language while watching videos. I’m loving Luna Park right now, a 2022 television series set in Rome (and I love seeing the scenes set there!). No, this Luna Park has nothing to do with my post about the art park I went to in NYC.
Also, Babbel+ has an interesting Chrome browser extension called Toucan that changes words on your web-pages to help you learn vocabulary as you browse. For example, here’s a sample of a Guardian article that has changed over some of the words. I can click the ones I don’t know and add them to a vocab list. I love learning in context like this.
Let’s dive into some video distraction. On the dangerous side of things, I learned about square waves which look cool but might just kill you.
If you didn’t catch the Lady Gaga SNL, her performance of Abracadabra is probably one of the best live sets they’ve ever done on that show. But I loved this skit about her husband, Lord Gaga. And mostly how he’s roasting Colin Jost.
I’m wondering how many of you have had the classic NSFW dish, Candle Salad? Or would be brave enough to try it? 😆It was popular from the 1920’s into the 60’s!
I’m seeing Franz Ferdinand next month and can’t wait! They did a great cover of Brittney Spear’s Toxic for the BBC a couple weeks ago:
And if you need even more distraction still, here is a list of the best movies set in ancient Rome, ranked. I’ve seen thirteen of them.
Stay tuned for next week’s post when I hopefully will have a VERY EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT to make.
More to come!
Thanks for Joining Me
If you love food and love Italy, and haven’t read THE CHEF’S SECRET or FEAST OF SORROW, click the links to learn where to buy your copy! And now you can order my latest, IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS!
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The fact that the 'This is Fine' meme came from a Western Mass person truly makes so much sense and also I am dying of laughter. From: a Western Mass native.
enjoyed this!