July 26, 2020
A happily ever after is an emotional reckoning
"Romance centers stories of love and connection and belonging, but it's also about accountability." In her keynote speech for this year's virtual Spring Fling conference, Alyssa Cole highlights what it really means to demand happily ever afters for everyone. "America is the protagonist that refuses to grovel, refuses to admit the sins of the past, and refuses to make amends. I don't know about you, but I think that I'm allowed to expect as much from this country as I would from a repentant rake." Need a recommendation for romance novels continuing to push us forward? Carole V. Bell writes about finding Black joy in romance novels and the special alchemy of African-American history and historical romance.
RIP Olivia de Havilland
Just a few weeks after turning 104, actress Olivia de Havilland - one of the last surviving performers from Hollywood's "Golden Age" - died yesterday in her home in Paris. She is most likely best known for her role as Melanie in Gone With The Wind, but personally preferred some of her other works - including pursuing the lawsuit that put the first crack in the old Hollywood studio system and granted greater freedom to screen actors in her wake. [more inside]
Phooey.
Chanson Profonde. A world-weary yet passionate cat artiste sings from the heart (in French, of course). Cello played by Yo-Yo Ma, piano played by Michael Ford, accordion played by un invité surprise. Brought to you by singer (and animatreuse) Sandra Boynton
A law does not change the world overnight: 30 years of the ADA
30 years today, The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law by then-President H. W. Bush. The ADA has had powerful impacts on the lives of disabled people, opening up public spaces and mandating communication access for all. But the law was not simply gifted like alms to the pitable. The ADA came to be after decades of struggle and activism, notably the 1990 Capitol Crawl and the 1988 Deaf President Now protests [previously]. Today, on the 30 year anniversary, Alice Wong reflects: we may have come a long way, but we still have far to go.
Some Indie Record That’s Much Cooler Than Mine
It’s got a metal cover, a song ft. Bon Iver, a song about the people who used to live in her house, an uncanny resemblance, a secret bonus song, an isolation manifesto, a cardigan for Natalia Bryant, 8 deluxe vinyl editions and 8 deluxe CD editions, huge initial sales, and rave reviews. It’s folklore [Spotify link, but there are others], the [surprise] new album from Taylor Swift.
Beyond the Doctor
Verity Lambert is remembered mostly for the role she played in bringing Doctor Who to the screen, but her legacy runs far deeper. She defined a generation of British TV. [more inside]
"Containing the Mad Merry Prankes She Played in Her Life Time"
David Nicol (Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! 2/14/2019), "14 February, 1595 - Long Meg of Westminster": "The most important repository of Long Meg tales is a jest-book (a collection of short, funny stories) entitled The Life of Long Meg of Westminster, which was first published in 1590, although the earliest surviving copy dates from 1635 ... Meg at first works in a tavern in Westminster, but then sets up her own in Islington ... She frequently cross-dresses and beats up men who annoy her. Later she goes to the wars in France and performs valiant acts as a soldier." See also Patricia Shaw's "Mad Moll and Merry Meg" [PDF] or Patricia Gartenberg's "An Elizabethan Wonder Woman" [preview only]. Henslowe's Diary is on hiatus until Oct. 27 because "increase of sickness is feared."
This Girl Makes
"This Girl Makes is an [UK-based, non-binary and trans-inclusive] on and offline community of designers and makers with events and DIY kits that celebrate and promote women in craft and design."
Late payment means public shame
For nonprofit news site Rest of World, which covers global tech stories, Morris Kiruga reports on a popular fintech app in Kenya and Nigeria that shames users who are late with their payments. The absence of regulation has many perks for the sector and one major liability: As companies soon discovered, if a user does not pay back what they have borrowed, plus interest, there is little a digital lender can do. ...(but) flag defaulters to one of Kenya’s three credit reference bureaus (CRBs), effectively locking them out of the credit market. ... Between 2014 and 2017, about 2.7 million Kenyans were negatively listed with a CRB, 15 percent of them for defaulting on loans of less than about $2. Last year, “how to check CRB status” was among the most-Googled questions in Kenya, between “how to be successful in life” and “how to get pregnant.” [more inside]
Ringfencing the Roof of the World's Waters
Asia's vital rivers - "The headwaters of 10 major rivers originate near some of Earth's highest points. Known as the world's 'third pole', the land of Mount Everest and other peaks holds the largest concentration of perennial ice outside of the polar regions. Along with snow and rain from the mountains, this ice helps supply the river basins below that support the water, food, and energy needs of almost two billion people." [more inside]
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