On Perfect Tarte Tatin in 10 Easy Steps
This is by far the most entertaining recipe I've ever read, only in part because I thought "really good sugar" was an Ina Garten parody up until the fancy golden Hawaiian rec.
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On How to Deal with a Vicious Review of Your Book
Promoting one approach to criticism is like saying there’s only one good way to write fiction. It’s ridiculous! You can choose an approach as an individual, or as a publication, but a call to snark (or to admiration or whatever) just in general seems absurd. A well-rounded diet, etc.
That said, did anyone else find Silverman’s Slate piece about the “epidemic of niceness” straight-up chilling? Twitter humanizes (you know, sometimes) by making authors (and other public figures) less of an abstraction. And I just don’t see how being reminded of someone’s humanity is ever a bad thing.
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On How Can We Get Artists Paid On The Internet? A Chat With David Lowery
Wow. While I agree with most of the content of this article, I found its tone extremely offputting. Just super sanctimonious, which seems especially unnecessary given that you’re preaching to the choir here at The Awl.
Unnecessarily nasty, too. I prefer a good old-fashioned “sic” to “oof.”
“Corpocratic bondage?” Really? “Obediently paying without objection for what they’ve been told to pay for, which is iPhones.” Really? I think it’s being willfully obtuse to cast Emily’s cohort as sheeple in this way. Presumably, if they could find a way to download iPhones for free, they would do that, too.
At the risk of stating the obvious: Stealing intellectual property is far easier than stealing an iPhone. There’s no tangible object, no consequences. A lot of people don’t even recognize it as stealing. And while it seems like significant strides are being made in educating people about how it IS in fact stealing even when it’s not something you can hold it in your hand, and how that stealing has serious, real-world consequences for musicians who are eking out an income, I don’t think that all the education in the world is going to matter much. The hard truth is that people will steal stuff if it’s easy enough.
Frankly, I don’t think that the issue comes down to viewing artists as “magical unicorns” that can “live on air.” Not even poor old Emily White believes that, much anyone who’s likely to read this article.
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On Are You Good Or Bad?
I think a lot about the stories we tell ourselves and the ways in which we assign the people in our lives certain roles. It's human nature; it helps us understand and manage our own narratives. It helps us feel in control.
Letting go of those categories takes a lot of effort, but the process is what gives our lives texture and depth. But sometimes I wonder if texture and depth are overrated. Being more shallow might be my new year's resolution.
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On Passover At Guy Fieri’s House
I can't tell which parts of this are jokes.
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On I Can Awkward
Wow. I just created a user account to say this is straight-up amazing. Well damn done, sir.
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On Is Your Social Media Editor Destroying Your News Organization Today?
You’re so right, official social media feeds were useless across the board. I tried to tune it out and just watch journos on the ground; they were way more informed but also a LOT more cautious. Sounds obvious but it really made me think a lot about how I consume news in general.
I usually keep an eye on @clarajeffery in a crisis--good eye, level head, good sense of humor, always up late. Social media editors should take a page from her book and try to help people find legit primary sources and offer perspective when they can. Take a breath and use your critical faculties. Jesus.