June's reading...

Good morning all. I’ve joined Substack, and am opening with a chapter length piece over which I have literally sweated: John Clare, Wild Service, and becoming a fly-tipper. Please visit, & subscribe! substack.com/@amyjanebeer...

❤️

Clearly planning to listen to TMS until the inevitable by lunch was optimistic. #TheCricket #woeful

i talked to joel a couple of years ago about the inspiring sincerity of sport - your best vs our best, here are the rules, let’s play - as exemplified by stokes’s heroics in leeds in 2019

Plans are afoot to site an AI Data Centre & Battery Storage Facility up the road from me in the North Devon countryside, there's a gazillion reasons why this is not welcome, and you all know what they are already. So if you'd like to help support our objections please sign (and share) the petition:

Genuinely don't understand Nottingham's attachment to jacket potatoes. Our workplace canteen has to offer them every day or there's a riot.

Apostrophes still matter, folks...

Eleven

It is vital you buy your small child (or the small child you know) that cheap, shitty watercolor set and that cheap, shitty colored pencil set and that cheap, shitty sketchbook Don't even wait for a reason, just bring it home one night That stuff is transformative in ways you've totally forgotten

It's Wednesday and I've had 10 emails from E's school this week, only two of which has been about the heatwave. We really have to offer comms training to schools before parents just break down altogether.

Yes. This thread.

Never mind AI data centres – when are we going to address the desperate waste of time, resources and energy caused by people NOT READING THE EMAIL AND THEN ASKING FOR INFORMATION THAT WAS ALREADY IN THE EMAIL it’s fine I’m fine

SHOE ARMY!!!!! 🩶💛💚🩶💛💚🩶💛🩶💛💚 #TheRugby

I could listen to this for ever. It’s so beautiful. The combo of Waits and Gayle — their voices at their peak — Bob Alcivar’s velvety string arrangement, Jack Sheldon’s smoky trumpet… it’s fucking sublime. If you don’t know the One From The Heart soundtrack, you will. m.youtube.com/watch?v=P40v...

Does anyone have a link to a decent critique of Jonathan Haidt's Anxiety Generation book? I've tried googling and all it gives me is Reddit threads. I was hoping for something a little more credible. People are pressing the book on each other at work and I'd like to sugvest a little balance.

This. Plus the research showing that kids who are already struggling with mental health issues or dysfunctional home lives are the most likely to succumb to doomscrolling and other unhealthy habits. In other words, social media doesn't harm teenagers, already at-risk teenagers seek out social media

Agree. There’s so much about media & social media that I think is absolutely urgent and essential for the government to get to grips with. “Ban it for kids” is the dumbest and least effective approach I can think of. The kids aren’t even the problem! Radicalisation is happening to older generations

I've been asked to publish this statement from some of the families affected by NHS England's decision in Brighton.

My lovely friend Mary Colwell has fought for a Natural History GCSE, supported by many, including Caroline. For it to be proper natural history, we need lots of naturalists to give their opinions on the proposed framework. Please consider visiting the public consultation www.gov.uk/government/c...

I hope this doesn't sound patronising but go and see art. The Hockney talk has reminded me again that seeing art in the flesh is a very different experience to seeing it on a screen. You understand why people cry in art galleries. It's not just the gift shop prices.

I'm not an art person so was genuinely surprised by the strength of my emotions on seeing David Hockney's Splash in the flesh. I didn't expect to be moved by it. And he put so much humour in his work. RIP.

Dear me. #TheWomensPrize

One of my slip on ones came off in the sea and was lost. I send apologies to all marine creatures with ingested plastic. I had to go barefoot through town back to the car park. Never had any more.

This was a groundbreaking piece of work. A work so good it means a life well spent. Millions of people understand Iran, the diaspora and the weird bittersweet details of the immigrant experience through the work she did.

Oh no! How terribly sad.

Vibes

I maintain that Muppet Casablanca is a solid winner. Kermit and Piggy as Rick and Ilse, obviously. Gonzo as Lazslo, Fozzie as Louis, Rolf as Sam. The cafe scenes are basically Muppet scenes already - tell me you can't imagine the "Vot Votch" couple as Muppets.

Hooray! How exciting - thank you. But either I'm doing something wrong or Bluesky is being weird but I can't seem to DM you?

Before I go back to work next week, can we normalise not asking people if they've had a good week off?

Here's the serious bit for anyone who'd rather skip the 4000 words of jokes

And we are live! Massive thanks to everyone who contributed to this. Reading your posts made me so much madder than I ever knew was possible

I like the look of both of these but will say Cradle for this.

Standing in Kent right now. My 76-year old mother's house has no running water but you get your priorities straight, eh? It's not like it's hot here at all.

This is indeed a piece of wonder.

Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...

I want to mention something nice that happened to me today, in part to document, for my own sake, that good things still happen in this horrible world. It involves the London Underground, an escalator, a small boy and some rubber ducks.

Woman in a large hat, by Mary Cassatt, born on this day 1844. It was the age of the hat, & she painted them.

This. God, this. It is such a manufactured panic and it started the moment they lost the fight over gay marriage. Support trans rights because it’s the right thing to do and also because this is all just a fascist push

Oh I loved this book! You're in for a treat. I wonder if I can get to London for the signing.

Supposed to be in London this afternoon but Mr B in hospital suddenly means I will miss the Helene Hanff event at Foyles tonight @manderleypress.bsky.social which I'm v sad about. But will also miss all the fascists which I'm not sad about at all.

I've read 47 and 3 that I didn't finish out of 100 on the list. Not fussed by reading many of the rest, tbh. www.theguardian.com/p/x4f9v5

"Earlier today the Prime Minister spent 17 minutes with Wes Streeting" The poor bastard. I feel a lot more sympathy for Starmer now.

The girl has tried a sleepover at a friend's house & homesickness has won. We need to find a solution before 3 separate overnight school trips. I feel bad suggesting she should just suck it up cos things are never as bad as she thinks, but I don't know the other mum enough to let her deal with it.

now thats an anecdote with a punch, from Gillian Tett www.ft.com/content/c0ae...

When I began my editing career, I often changed “utilize” to “use.” For the past eight years or so, I’ve been changing “leverage” to “use.” Now I’m changing “use case” to the noun “use.” What do you people have against “use” in its various forms? It’s a perfectly fine word.