laphamsquarterly:

I understand that many people will say these kinds of things are “UnPresidential.” Bull. This is how people get information.

—Mandy Grunwald, advisor to then-candidate Bill Clinton in a 1992 memo about going on TV talk shows. Later that year, Clinton would famously play his saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show. 

(via ajonesco)

theatlantic:

Photo of the day: Obama sits on the Rosa Parks bus

[Image: Pete Souza/The White House]

thedailywhat:

Bard Chart of the Day: Shakespeare took his last breath 396 years ago today — but did we ever really lose him? Esquire columnist Stephen Marche, author of How Shakespeare Changed Everything, gives us a little perspective:

“Shakespeare is the foremost poet in the world. All of the scriptwriting books cite him as the dominant influence on Hollywood. He has had more influence on the novel than any novelist. The greater the artist, the more he or she was influenced by Shakespeare. Dickens and Keats were more inspired by Shakespeare than anybody, and their familiarity with Shakespeare seems to have made them more original, not less.”

[explore]

ilovecharts:

Secret Service Nicknames for First Families

theatlantic:

The Strange (and Formerly Sexist) Economics of Engagement Rings

Once upon a time, diamond rings weren’t just gifts. They were, frankly, virginity insurance.

A now-obsolete law called the “Breach of Promise to Marry” once allowed women to sue men for breaking off an engagement. Back then, there was a high premium on women being virgins when they married — or at least when they got engaged. Surveys from the 1940s show that roughly half of engaged couples reported being intimate before the big day. If the groom-to-be walked out after he and the bride-to-be had sex, that left her in a precarious position. From a social angle, she had been permanently “damaged.” From an economic angle, she had lost her market value. So Breach of Promise to Marry was born.

But in the 1930s, states began striking down the “Breach of Promise to Marry” law. By 1945, 16 states representing nearly half of the nation’s population had made Breach of Promise a historical relic. At the same time, the diamond engagement ring began its transformation from decorative to de rigueur. Legal scholar Margaret Brinig doesn’t think that’s a coincidence, and she has the math to prove it. Regressing the percent of people living in states without Breach of Promise against a handful of other variables — including advertising, per capita income and the price of diamonds — Brinig found that this legal change was actually the most significant factor in the rise of the diamond engagement ring. It’s historically plausible. The initial mini-surge in diamond imports came in 1935, four years before DeBeers launched its celebrated advertising campaign. So, what’s going on here?

Read more.

princessjinx:

i-was-promised-tea:

“When the Library of Congress burned in the War of 1812, Thomas Jefferson sold his personal library to the government to replace it. To commemorate the Library’s bicentennial, an exhibition on Jefferson was created, helping to illuminate the intellectual background of one of the most revered figures in American history. Originally intended to be temporary, the exhibit proved so popular that it is now permanent.”

I just saw this in person three months ago

and someone in the same room said “who on earth would want to own this many books”

and yes.

I skank-eyed this person.

because. me. 

(via the-noise-figures)

iturnedyouintome:

mikaelchoe:

Ghosts of Paris

Paris Now and Then (1940’s)

Interesting and chilling.

nevver:

Six Tips on Writing from John Steinbeck

1. Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.
2. Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.
3. Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn’t exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.
4. If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it—bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn’t belong there.
5. Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing.
6. If you are using dialogue—say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.

I have not been writing lately

the-noise-figures:

Boston: History of the Landfills

The above animation shows an approximation of the sequence of landfill projects in Boston in chronological order.

Boston College
Jeffery Howe, 1996

So basically most of Boston

ilovecharts:

How 12 Famous Logos Have Evolved Over Time

Minimalism is in

Sidenote: my first computer was a Mac with the rainbow logo.

suicideblonde:

Grand Central Station, New York City, 1935

we-are-revolting:

lord-kitschener:

hindividual:

glimpseofthewind:

Steampunk Science Posters: Megan Lee Welch

Part 1.

(Source: yourlittlescarlet, via kirinmccrory)

sexismandthecity:

During WWII Russian girls who were 19-20 years old served not only as nurses but also as soldiers. Follow this link, the photos are amazing.