From the article at MIT Press Reader:
Emily Dickinson used envelopes and seals to turn letters into poetry, layering hidden messages and playful forms.
Among the extraordinary literary output of Emily Dickinson are her “envelope poems,” short bursts of verse recorded on fragments of envelopes much like the ones we still use today.
I've just watched this 4-part Netflix series, Adolescence, and it is extraordinary in every way. Writing and acting, yes, but technically, it's a marvel: each episode is a real-time hour shot in a single-take. For those who've seen it and wondered how it was possible, this making-of should shed some light:
I highly recommend the show. It does remarkable job of handling complex topical subjects and is among the best television I've ever seen.
40 minute video about a couple who spent $175K on an abandoned school in Indiana which they then renovated and now live in:
Lockdown caused Rachel Spelling to switch from painting large wall murals to tiny works on paint chips.
More at Studio Spelling.
Steve Messam is a British environmental artist renowned for his large-scale, site-specific installations that transform and reimagine everyday environments.
More on Steve's website.
50 Watts is still going strong after almost 20 years. It describes itself accurately as "a growing archive of weird and wonderful visual ephemera from around the world."
The other day I got an email from Tyler Ibrahim, one of the creators of Pools, a new app for "personal and intentional sharing – social but not social media." It's available for iPhone and Android.
I gave it a look and it appears to be an interesting take on many of the functions social media offers but absent many of the functions that make social media awful. For instance, there's no followers or following. There's likes and hearts, but only the person who posted the thing you're liking or hearting can see your reactions, thus eliminating the performance aspect of social media. If you comment on something, you can make it so only certain people can see the comment, or only the person who created the post, and your comment cannot be viewed by people you're not already connected to.
Since there's no following/followers, there's also no way to search for users. That means no one can find you on Pools. The only people you're connected to are those you send an invite to — or those who you accept an invite link from.
There's also no algorithm. You see things when you choose to in the order they're posted.
The app is new so things may change, but they seem dedicated to the anti-social media stance they're launching with.
I'm not an app developer, but I had a similar idea years ago when I launched Volver. I was looking for an app that would allow one-to-group posting and I was mostly thinking of businesses who want to reveal things to their customers and have a way for customers to respond, but not a way for customers to connect to one another. I don't believe Pools has this function, but perhaps it's something they'll consider in the future.
PoetiCal is a publication that can only be viewed through a Calendar app like Apple Calendar or Google Calendar. You subscribe to the publication the same way you would add any new calendar to your calendar app. For instance, you can open your Apple Calendar app, click File > Add New Calendar Subscription, and paste this URL into the box: https://poetical.day/cal.
Then, each day that an entry is set for publication, it'll appear in your calendar, right next to your work meetings, or reminders to drop your dog at the salon.
