The Trend Report™: Lying Down
Continuing to analyze our desires to end the economy and analyzing the rise of pastiche creativity.
Pentagon’s Long-Awaited UFO Report
More from the UFO beat, which doesn’t have much to report but is something that exists.
How a lizard’s venom inspired a weight loss drug
A really interesting story about how lizard venom is helping with...weight loss?!
What Happens When A Pilot Opens A Window
Some fascinating science about why...pilots can open their windows.
Millions of Canada’s sea creatures are cooking to death
Because of the heat. God, this sucks.
causing more than 80% of new infections in 4 states
Delta now the dominant virus variant in US
Delta variant raises stakes for vaccination
Global death toll surpasses 4 million
About the lambda Covid variant
That’s your Covid / delta / hell variant roundup.
You Really Need to Quit Twitter
Of course this story went ~ viral ~ this week. Here it is, in case you missed it. (I still haven’t read it.)
TikTok resumes
I love this! This is the future, I think! Yes, it’ll be wonky at first – but I think it breaks down white papers, letting people give a little audition for jobs. That’s gross, as I write it out, but anything to kill bygone, patriarchal, gatekept systems is a plus. Fuck the system!
Naomi Osaka: Press Conferences Need “A Refresh”
To protect athletes. This is a great take! The relationship between press and everyone – subjects, audience, etc. – needs to be refreshed. It reminds me of art critiques and writing workshops: they need to be rethought and reimagined, to be friendlier and more inclusive of thought – versus intentionally isolating, manipulating, and silencing.
Trump’s Embrace of Ashli Babbitt Martyrdom
Very tired that this man is “back.” And this is so concerning. How quickly people forget! I have a working theory – and potential future trend essay – about how history is a thing of the past, how we’re in a stage (Or state?) of thinking that is distinctly short-term.
“I’m just really not into work right now,” a friend said at dinner this week. The group of us nodded, a few echoed the sentiment, and I said what I always think when this sentiment is raised: in a world without the economy, we would be enjoying nature and enjoying each other’s company – and not working.
But alas! We live in 2021 and we’re in America. Work is your life and, no matter how good the life, it still sucks. Working sucks! As a popular online saying goes, typically in response to the question of a dream job, “I simply do not dream of labor.” And why would anyone?
What’s interesting is this trend has built from “No one wants to work!” to “You know what? I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do.” The next iteration of this is being seen in China, where a Millennial movement called “lying flat” is seeing people doing the bare minimum to contribute to society. Part protest, part self-care, the results are fascinating – and very relatable to the “I just want to work on a farm!” sentiment that I have heard from countless friends and colleagues and general people-my-age. The New York Times explains.
To lie flat means to forgo marriage, not have children, stay unemployed and eschew material wants such as a house or a car. It is the opposite of what China’s leaders have asked of their people.
[...]
While plenty of Chinese millennials continue to adhere to the country’s traditional work ethic, “lying flat” reflects both a nascent counterculture movement and a backlash against China’s hypercompetitive work environment.
Working too hard, wasting your life, being considered as a tool instead of a person, pressured to “contribute” to a greater good that doesn’t care for you (nor did you consent to): all of this adds up to being invalidated, humiliated, and dehumanized in general, all in the face of a construct like “the economy.” People are tired of it.
Amidst financial crises and debt, a failing planet and suffocating hate, hope is in short supply. So what do you do? Take matters into your own hands. Reclaim your life from the vacation that is the office and figure out your escape plan. We’re all very woken up – but do we have our plans and goals and bigger pictures for getting to lay flat? I’m not sure. If this is a reminder of anything, it’s that you have to be pro-active about “getting out of the workforce.” That’s not easy, it is a luxury, but it’s not impossible. People are doing it every day, all over the world.
Zaila Avant-garde wins 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee
...and became the first African American champion, in the competition’s near-hundred year history. It doesn’t end there either: Zaila has three Guinness World Records for basketball. I also am obsessed with her last name. I love this kid! Just look at her!!
The Joy of Lil Nas X’s Gay Pop Stardom
SO PROUD OF MY BABY
Ms. Patty
My friend Chenel has an excerpt from her book out and it’s ~ so good ~ It’s from earlier in the year but just caught it now, as she shared it recently on Twitter. She’s one of the most talented writers I’ve ever met!
Who runs the world? Not teen girls.
A little late but a good read.
Two Iconic Writers Join Howard University
To create a new journalism school. The writers? Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates. This is incredible because a new journalism institution has just been birthed – and we’ll get some great new voices from this program and from these luminaries.
Should I Keep My Couch For 40 Years?
In which I bemoan buying shitty products and praise quality goods.
Looking for a Friend? Try Match, Bumble and Tinder.
This is interesting, particularly as I’ve been considering using Grindr to make friends for a few months now.
Showdown Over Trans Blowup at Wi Spa
A local story that I’m certainly going to be keeping an eye on.
Her Family Owned Slaves. Can She Make Amends?
This is a good read, about one white woman in Georgia’s quest to do right by the people her family once enslaved.
Shonda Rhimes Adds Films & Gaming To Deal
I have never seen a Shonda Rhimes show but I am very excited about the prospect of Shonda Rhimes games!!!!
MEL acquired by Recurrent Ventures
BLESS
When time overlaps, moving forward and backward simultaneously, thanks to a glut of information and intake, references pile up. Like beautiful lines of stratification in sedimentary rocks, you can see the details that all went into making one thing and, while individually a callback, the end product is something new.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. This came to mind when interviewing Shannon Harvey and Adam Michaels of Inventory Press for a story, where they explained how they see the future of design as a “pastiche,” of layered influence colliding with voices that haven’t been translated into or granted access in creation. The future isn’t about building up as much as it’s about expansiveness, growing outward while digging down and reaching new heights. We’re realizing that time isn’t as linear as skyscraper, traveling in one direction, but a globe, increasing in all aspects.
This is the norm now, as many may balk, saying there are “no new ideas.” I challenge that and welcome this state of hyper-reference, of inside jokes. Two case studies, at the opposite ends of the cultural and creative spectrum.
@iamthmpsn (and similar creators) on TikTok. I have been obsessed with this person for weeks. The account is technically for a violinist, even if their account is a who’s who of the top Huh? creators on TikTok. There’s Lil Xan and lisina15 and Rachel Fit and so many more Internet characters (those two women with the giant boobs, that one little blonde woman), creating mini-videos that inspire a confusion of whether to laugh and Like or call someone about endangered persons. I’ve written about the trend of self-othering – but this is something different, instead a layering of characters and accounts dense with information, all of whom beg you to watch and disallow the looking away. The idea here is an evolution of the former “Viners who live on Vine” energy, multiplied by a circus, divided by music. I can honestly tell you that I don’t know what I’m looking at with this account, a similar feeling reminiscent to those shoes-and-crayfish accounts, but I can look at the separate parts and see the pastiche. I see the references. I also see that this, for many, is where the Internet (and therefor society) lives: at the intersection of different lives on the outskirts of what we call “normal.”
Marc Jacobs Fall 2021. The recent comeback of the New York icon was interesting because it was less Marc Jacobs having a moment of complete creative breakthrough and more a working through adored items, a witnessing of a designer processing all that they have experienced in the past year. From sickness to inspiration to the curious merging of the two, the collection has everything, hinting at Balenciaga balaclavas and bodycon, Gucci maximalism and Craig Green droops, Moncler (via Craig Green) puffs and Gareth Pugh tailored-but-large pants, Pierre Cardin helmet hats and op-art, Covid masks and non-binary style, Y2K style and climate change preparedness, and...so much more. The beauty of the show is less about a singular vision but more about the references, a pluralism that borders on cannibalism. This feeling is literal too, as many of the forms offered feel cocoon-like or as if an egg, these pods for one to go inward and renew. It could seem old and too steeped in the past but, somehow, it feels distinctly now. Perhaps to flex one’s fashion knowledge, perhaps to honor one’s loves: regardless of the reason, Marc Jacobs is showing that to create now is to carry in all the creative baggage that one owns.
What do we make of this? I would say that this globular nature of creation is going to continue and continue and continue. This is the future. It’s hyperlinking, indulging the rabbit hole, digging in as deep as one can to see what you can pull out, as you admire all the sticky muck you felt along the way.
Spice Girls Share Previously Unreleased Song
This is here specifically for my 9 year old self. And it’s quite a horny song!
Galcher Lustwerk produced Azealia Banks
Speaking of horny: CRANK THIS DIRTY DIRTY DIRTY SUMMER JAM
"THIS TWEET MAYOR BOWSER JUST DELETED"
The best Tweet of the week.
@melinabee3
This is my new favorite TikToker, who dives into and discusses weird design sub-genres like explaining the Cheesecake Factory asethetic and the design influence of the show Frasier.
"gen z is absolutely bonkers"
I love the kids.
"must be willing to work in a fast-paced"
The accuracy.
"bitch I'm West Indian"
Dominique Jackson is a TikTok blessing.
"Gwen Shamblin Lara"
What a story.
"I wanna d*e"
I have spent so much time looking at this. On period.
"when i'm watching p0rn"
Congrats!
"my emotional support Bratz doll"
is this me
"How they got so big!"
This doctor explaining mega-implants is blowing my mind.
And, finally, my thoughts on the state of straight people.
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