Kate Moss 'camping' sweater
eBay or die
I loved the idea here, to write a piece on a dancer at Jumbo’s Clown, the Hollywood Boulevard bikini bar. “Caroline Blaike has been working at Jumbo’s Clown room for 13 years. She is one of only 22 dancers there; A spot for new dancers rarely opens up.” Still, I need everyone to admit we’re letting some pretty shitty writing slide at the e-magazines right now. What a waste of an article! (“Spaces like burlesque bars and strip clubs have deep roots in operating for the male gaze. But doesn’t everyone want to be sexy?” I’m sorry, but writing isn’t actually meant to be cutesy.) Caroline is on instagram here.
I’m pleased to say that our summer book club pick, The Vivisectors, is now long-listed for the Booker prize. Congratulations to my husband’s brilliant ex-girlfriend.
Sometimes—not every day—I think about how it might be nice if we rid ourselves of the parameters of good behavior—specifically, politeness. I had never heard of this eBay scandal, where seven executives targeted two bloggers critical of the company, in a rather headless series of escalating harassments. “Ina and David Steiner accused eBay leadership of mailing a series of threatening deliveries to the Steiners’ home in 2019, including a box of live cockroaches, a bloody pig’s head mask and a funeral wreath. The Steiners also accused executives of online harassment, including online posts inviting strangers to their house for sex.” It goes further: “Ebay employees also travelled to Massachusetts to vandalise the Steiners’ home and stalk them around their hometown of Natick.” The couple won their case. It makes me want to work at eBay.
The Co-op at Harvard is shutting down! I personally never understood why friends of mine lived in the Co-op—I was not about to do dishes in college or pretend I was at Oberlin when I wasn’t—but, still, end of an era.