I'm in The Washington Post today (on the Opinions page, oddly), giving you a deep dive on what prompted a very important discussion in The Room Where It Happened on the location of the U.S. Capitol.

People sometimes compare Mamdani to Judge Clay, a character from the July 1974 issue of Detective Comics 441 who adopted the persona of The Judge and sought vengeance on . . . wait, where are you going?

Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan have never written a lazier lyrical rhyme than: Trying to make some sense of it all But I can see, it makes no sense at all But goddammit, it still works.

Oooh, there's a new book about Washington Irving coming out in August. (I'm sure @curtisisbooger.bsky.social and I will be the first two pre-orders on this one....)

OTD in 1979, THE MUPPET MOVIE opened in theaters across the United States. Jim Henson noted (with typical understatement) that its reception was "Great!" and it was one of the most profitable films of the decade. But getting the Muppets to the big screen in the first place was hard work.

This is SUCH a cool story.

Happy 63rd birthday to Gene Draper!

And here’s the final project—finally! I did cheat a bit and use some canned peaches on the top layer, as my own peaches were so ripe they couldn’t be cleanly peeled or sliced. So they’re the unseen bottom layer. Now to the fridge with it for 29 hours. More or less.

I’m making a peach mascarpone pie, and while the directions say it’s only a 40 minute prep time, there’s an awful lot of “bring up to room temperature” and “let cool completely” so that this is becoming an all-afternoon project.

Settling in for game time at Isotopes Park, where it’s presently 99 degrees.

Ave Maria! There's a new documentary all about Sonia Manzano--Maria on Sesame Street--and you can be among the first to see it this weekend at @movingimagenyc.bsky.social -- followed by a post-film discussion with Sonia and director Ernie Bustamante.

Finished @brianjayjones.com’s The Capitol last night. The biography (yes, it’s a biography of the Capitol) quickly had my attention, filling in the gaps in my knowledge of the history and evolution of the building. That final chapter looms like the ending of a horror novel …

Remember when the New York Times breathlessly reported that gas prices had fallen when Biden was president? Yeah, me neither.

And ya know who cancelled it? JIM HENSON HIMSELF. (He did the same thing with a little TV show called "The Muppet Show" six years earlier.)

Guacamole. And as a New Mexican, this is as close to heresy as it gets.

This is why we can never have nice things.

Young Emily Brontë did not mess around. When asked by her father what to do with her misbehaving brother Branwell, she responded, “reason with him—and when he won’t listen to reason, whip him.”

Swiffer wet mops are grossly overrated.

KNICKERBOCKER(S)

KNICKERBOCKERS!!!!

MAKE A GODDAMN FREE THROW

Today’s hummingbird photo is titled The Whatchoo Talkin’ About, Willis?

Oh Ron, Ron, Ron . . . Personally, I think Jim would have been incredibly skeptical of AI, in no small part because of its environmental impact.

Shaking “like” from my vocabulary’s verbal clutter is an ongoing battle for me. I finally managed to stop using it as a substitute for “says,” but there are times I hear recordings of myself throwing it around as a filler modifier and just cringe.

Hands Off the Arts, a group opposed to President Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center, has created a live feed to capture crews removing Trump's name from the building's exterior. www.youtube.com/live/sMdce2o...

The biggest asshole in the sandbox has all the toys. Just absolutely gross.

"I’m looking to be shot any time I step out of my car. If I die, it will be in a good cause. I’ve been fighting for America just as much as the soldiers in Vietnam." Medgar Evers, WWII veteran and civil rights activist, assassinated on this day in 1963 outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi

Waiting for take out tortilla soup and pozole at Sopa Loca.

Setting up group chats on Bluesky:

Senator Profiles in Courage has thoughts, everyone.

I will never get tired of watching videos of New Yorkers celebrating That Shot.

That was crazy.

GUARD THE INBOUND PASS FFS

HOLY SHIT

My book is apparently number one on Amazon in the “Landmarks & Monuments” category. TAKE THAT, STICKER BOOK.

This was Jim Henson’s favorite bird as a kid, and its name likely inspired the Cigar Box Frackle in THE GREAT SANTA CLAUS SWITCH— a character which evolved into the Great Gonzo— and then was later slightly softened to create the word “Fraggle.”

I got to know Michael a bit a few years ago while working on the Jim Henson exhibit in Albuquerque, and he was not only a brilliant artist and craftsman but an absolutely lovely guy—which seems to be a constant with the artists who worked around Jim.

"Lastly came the KNICKERBOCKERS...These derive their name, as some say, from Knicker, to shake, and Becker, a goblet, indicating thereby that they were sturdy toss pots of yore..." #WashingtonIrving #HistoryofNewYork

Happy Watchmen Day to those who celebrate it! (Watchmen #1 on sale date: June 5, 1986)

There's a nice (and quick!) one-pager in the new issue of Washingtonian magazine, spotlighting some of the greatest hits from THE CAPITOL.

NEWS: A @lawfaremedia.org report finds that *97* Jan. 6ers who received clemency for their role in the attack were arrested, charged, or convicted of subsequent crimes—a number much higher than previously reported. Incredible work by @katherinepomps.bsky.social www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

Marjane Satrapi’s death is a genuine loss to the world, and I have to love Le Monde for straight-faced reporting the most French cause of death, “died of sadness”

One of the more brazen of the book club scams, as this one just comes straight out in its first message and asks for an “Curation and Program Management investment” of an unspecified amount.

New Mexico is a delight for history nerds. Just a way different timeline than people expect. You can still attend Mass in a church in the Pueblos that’s older than the Plymouth Colony

I ate all of my soup and sandwich. Please clap.

News You Can Use: The New York #Knicks derive their name from Diedrich Knickerbocker, Washington Irving's pseudonymous elderly historian, credited with writing the hilarious and very fake A HISTORY OF NEW YORK in 1809.

I’m in Ithaca with my daughter for launch day of THE CAPITOL—and this was awaiting me when I came into the living room for coffee. COMPLETE WITH A MANDATORY OFFICE JOKE.

It is disgusting how hypocritical the Trump voters can be. I knew this would happen. So in November of 2024, while Biden was still President. I drove around and snapped some pictures of Philly gas prices. Time stamped and geo tagged and saved to my favs.