There Is Some Peace In Just Printing Things Out

The most popular link last time was the Literature Map (I agree, it's fascinating), with these thoughts about "normality" second.

1. We should all be writing about our ancestors. This piece about the writer's grandmother Herta Schlerff is full of surprising twists: she was born in Bulgaria to a family of florists, educated in Egypt and Switzerland, worked at the newly created League of Nations, got married, emigrated to Argentina, got divorced, married someone half her age, and more.
2. With a printer, some paper, some glue, a paper cutter and some basic typesetting skills, you can now make an entirely functional book at home. Why do this? "There is some peace in just printing things out."
3. Storyterra is an interactive global map showing where stories are set — it includes books, films, games and TV shows. So if you are travelling somewhere, you can scroll around and find some media set in the new place you are exploring.

4. I had briefly forgotten about Bon Appetit alum Claire Saffitz, and then I stumbled upon this video of her reverse engineering TimTams. I'm so glad she's still doing this!
5. The case for holding a breakup ceremony, with a script.
6. How Instagram's "link in bio" walled garden system ruined everything.

7. NPR's Tiny Desk is always worth watching. As someone said in the comments of this one: "Clipse making us realise we’ve been listening to mediocre rap...".
8. This one came via my Browser colleague Uri and answered a question I've been pondering for years. What is the Difference Between Henry, Hetty, James, Charles, George Vacuum Cleaners?
9. Helsinki has just managed an entire year without a road traffic accident death. The most important thing, apparently, was reducing speed limits, but better public transport and well-designed areas for pedestrians and cyclists also helped.

10. I don't think I've ever seen such a cinematic video about woodworking. I'm in awe: imagine using a circular saw safely and also thinking about how to make that look interesting on camera at the same time!
11. The Wicked film promotional rollout was not a fluke, it was merely the mainstreaming of a growing trend: the TikTokification of the press junket. Movie stars are all chasing a single viral clip now, rather than deigning to talk about their work. "There are some of us, still, who want to hear about the actual films, rather than what a good boyfriend the actor would be for the internet. Regardless of the form, it’s a deliberate dumbing down."
12. A close reading of the craft and structure in A Is for Alibi by Sue Grafton.
13. I'm not just saying this because these were very formative years for me, musically. 1990s film soundtracks were just better.