WTF-Beta

Thanks, wtg! And Loki thanks you, too.

None of that is, of course, intended to say that I think the performative switch for Arial to TNR by governmental agencies is anything but stupid.

Times New Roman has been the default font in publishing almost since word processing programs came along, after a brief period of Courier dominance when we were still trying to make documents look like they were typed.

I believe the research saying that sans serif is easier to read for most folks, but the popular wisdom has always been to use a serif font because they were considered easier to read by editors and agents, who read all the live-long day and reportedly really felt the difference. My guess is that they felt the difference because serif fonts were what they were used to seeing. When I was teaching I worried that I was telling students to use an antiquated format (like my colleague who still--still!--insisted on Courier, as if it were still 1988.) To guard against that, I would do spot-checks of various publications, agents, and so on. Few of them specify a font in their guidelines, but when they do it's usuall Times New Roman. I don't think I've ever seen anybody specify NOT to use Times New Roman, but I do often see advice against using odd fonts, colored fonts, or other nonstandard ways of presenting one's work. My guess is that current standards are that basic fonts like TNR, Arial, Calibri, and Bookman are all just fine, but not Comic Sans or Wingdings.

I myself have always liked the look of a serif font. Sans serif fonts make a document look unfinished and draft-like to me, but I one-hundred-percent know that this is subjective and generational.

I give up. I tried three ways to post the stupid photo. Now I can't edit it or delete.

Loki says "Ho ho ho!"

[url=https://postimg.cc/SXV0X97j][img]https://i.postimg.cc/sXC3N9MP/IMG-2078.jpg[/img][/url]

Are you okay now, wtg?

I presume from the summary that the plant estrogens they're discussing are so weakly absorbed that they don't raise risks for things like breast cancer? I'm only mildly concerned about that, as I certainly eat soy products, but I wonder about daily or frequent consumption.

I was at the Met a couple of months ago and saw some of their Faberge collection. It was stunning.

I really love this Winter Egg.

Just a few flurries and then an all-day drizzle here.

Good gracious, Chas! I'm so sorry you've been through all of this. It sounds like you have good doctors, so I hope things go better from here on out.

Thanks, y'all! It's been a quiet, wintry birthday, which was just right after a two-week frolic to see our western descendants.

Thanks, Dol! That would be great.

@jon-nyc said in Will you be able to get a COVID vaccine?:

Canada is a four hour drive

That's probably the plan. I was looking at options this afternoon.

I'm not quite geezerly enough, and I don't meet any of the other requirements.

I'm pissed.

I hope she can get it back. My former employer spent years strong arming a woman whose family's art had been looted and sold to a wealthy oil (I think) family, who then donated one of the pieces, a Pisarro, to the university museum. After long negotiations that she said included a coercive 2 am phone call pressuring her to sign something agreeing to the painting bouncing back and forth every three years between the Musee d'Orsay and OU's museum, she lost the battlr. (I don't see anything in the article saying that consideration was ever given to returning it to her, and maybe she didn't want it, but she wanted it to say in France and she didn't get that.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/french-heiress-ends-fight-university-oklahoma-over-nazi-looted-art-n1269297

I would be ashamed to keep something that was stolen by Nazis, especially since it was a donation and presumably the museum wouldn't have been out any money--except anything they spent to conserve it, I guess--but that's just me.

The OU museum has a pretty impressive collection that's heavy on big-name European impressionists (Monet, Degas, Renoir, and such), twentieth century American artists (Georgia O'Keeffe, the Taos Society, many Indigenous artists, and such), and some Old Masters. I wonder if much of their European art was bought and later donated by mid-century oil barons and, presumably without their knowledge at the time of purchase, a certain percentage of those paintings were bought at a time when art looted by Nazis was hitting the market. It's anybody's guess whether they or the museum began at some point to suspect any of it might be looted.

I thought they had also held and possibly returned some Benin bronzes, but the internet says no.

@rustyfingers Did I tell you that I gave my Franciscanware to Muffin's Sister?

They use it every night. When Stud Muffin (a senior in high school now!) cooks dinner, they will post on Facebook and I get to see the yummy food on the Apple plates.

I missed this thread when it started. Thank you all!

I've been on the road a lot this summer. I was doing signings, yes, but I cleverly scheduled two of them in cities where my children live, so I spent an extra week in both places. I just got back from my last trip, which was to Memphis, an hour from my alma mater at Ole Miss and three hours from my mother's sister. I spent an inordinate amount of time with friends I haven't seen in years--since I was in my twenties in some cases. It was great fun, but now I'm descending into introvert-in-a-cave mode for a while. I've got a couple of book proposals out, soon to be three, so I'm hoping somebody will give me the go-ahead to use that cave time to write something.

rf - B&N or whoever they used for shipping should replace that book for you!

Let's do it! Everybody go buy a Powerball ticket.

(I never play the lottery. I'm not even sure where to get a ticket.)

Erasers

RIP.

I love all of this--the bespoke stairs, the tile floors, the curved glass in the doors, the plum woodwork.

Just gorgeous!