and light of stars was in her hair

i remember hearing an economics professor comment on roman bridges still being used by cars today, saying that if you over-engineer and over-build a bridge to the point it can still be used 2000 years later, then you've just waisted public funds and labor. and i remember how i grated against that. against the idea that something could be designed to last not only past the builders lifetime, but past the life of a civilization.

l'm not about to stand up and say that industrialization is an inherently bad thing. i think it's great that clothing doesn't cost thousands of dollars and people can basically furnish a home in their 20's for under ten grand, but like. i feel like there has to be some kind of social-psychological shift in knowing that the things we make now won't be around after we die. they won't be passed on and looked after. they won't be loved.

I write code. I send emails. I write documentation. the things i create will be garbage in a couple years, if I'm lucky. I'm drawn to bookbinding as a hobby, because i wish my words would last. i wish they would sit on someones shelf, be pulled down again and again, and live a life of their own. I enjoy woodworking because i can have some hope that maybe, if i make something good enough, it'll be passed from person to person, and maybe, one day, outlive me.

It's a great couch. It's a Davenport--which both a brand of furniture and a type of sofa. (Like a futon, the back folds down to turn into a bed, but it looks like a regular sofa and has more structure to it. My parents' version also has storage; if you pull up the seat, there is a compartment that runs the full length of it. Unlike modern couches, it has springs in the seat and back instead of foam cushions. (There's batting over the springs, and it's actually very comfortable.)

In the late 30s-early 40s, my great-grandfather bought it used at an auction. He put it in his house. In the 1950s, when his health was failing, my grandparents moved in to take care of him, and raised their kids in that house. They had the sofa recovered. Sometime in the 1980s they had it recovered again. By the early 2000s they were both dead and my parents inherited the couch. They then got rid of their couch which was 20 years old and falling apart. But the old sofa was just fine!

In the last few years it started showing its age. The fabric was wearing out, the batting was shot, some of the springs were bad.

Source

AUTISM RESPONSE: Rubber ducks and other rubber bath toys can accumulate mold on the inside because of small holes underneath where moisture becomes trapped. The mold often goes unnoticed because it's not visible from the outside.

Marcia Lucas was the editor on 1983’s "Return of the Jedi" and the pre-"Star Wars" George Lucas-directed films "THX 1138" and "American Graffiti."

She was also part of the editing team for director Martin Scorsese’s 1970s films "Taxi Driver," "Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore" and "New York, New York."

Marcia Lucas was often called the unsung hero of "Star Wars," the original film that after sequels, prequels and spinoffs has come to be known by its subtitle, "A New Hope."

She convinced husband George that he should have Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Alec Guinness, in his light saber battle with Darth Vader and become a spirit guide to Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker.

And she had to make sense of the raw footage that could’ve been a mess in the wrong hands, including the climactic rebel attack on the Death Star.

[....]

You can get one too here:

https://vgen.co/Where-Does-The-Heart_Lie

Dear Representative [Name],

I am writing to express my strong opposition to H.R. 8250 (The "Parents Decide Act"). As your constituent and a concerned citizen, I believe this bill introduces unprecedented risks to digital privacy and security.

Specifically, I am alarmed by:

SEC. 2(a)(1)(B): Requiring age verification to even use an operating system creates a mandatory "hardware lockout" that ends anonymous computing and forces users to hand over sensitive identification data to major corporations just to power on their devices.

SEC. 2(a)(3): Mandating that OS providers create a system for all app developers to access verification data is a massive security vulnerability. This effectively creates a centralized API of user identities accessible to thousands of third-party developers, many of whom may lack adequate data protection.

This bill does not protect children; it creates a centralized surveillance infrastructure at the OS level. I urge you to protect the privacy of your constituents and vote NO on H.R. 8250.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

Given that, in the wake of this mandatory identification policy, my country seems to be moving to hand over its citizens biometric data, like fingerprints, Face ID files, and identification documents, over to the USA and to ICE to maintain the visa free travel (ESTA) we have, I strongly urge any US resident to send these emails, or make calls.

But if you can’t do that, the most powerful thing you can do is spread the word. Tell your friends, family, coworkers, anyone who can help.

My reach will likely be small, and so I don’t know if this will mean very much in the grand scheme of things, but I cannot stand to see this tracking happen to another population as it did to mine.

And if you think it won’t affect you, it will. All anonymity goes out the window when your accounts can be linked via your personal ID