the secret of the peanut baby

June 01, 2020

Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that's decided to bring you something more or less as usual in the name of literal self-care and/or distraction 

You'll Like This

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.Idea Factory Giveaway140 - The Tart End of the SpectrumJon (@ferociousj), Besha (@besha), and special guest Jen (@jennifermarie) unveil a splendid assortment of ideas for booze, automotive adornment, and more.Never forget that while occasional acting co-host Jen is wonderful for many reasons, her food ideas are nothing short of monstrous.If you're looking for something to distract you from [waves vaguely around self], you could load up Apple Podcasts and rate us ✨✨✨✨✨.Instant Band Night 15: POSTPONEDWe here at the main office are holding out hope that July 9 will turn out to be a viable date for this, the long-awaited 15th installment of Instant Band Night, but if not, we'll see you in September.Facebook event's still up, too, because why not* * s t a y   h o m e   / /   s t a y   h e a l t h y * * 

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.I'm painfully aware this week that I sit in the middle of a bubble built out of privilege of various sorts, so instead of anything I could babble at you, I instead swap in this extremely concise advice from Ijeoma Oluo: 

White people: whatever outrage and sadness you are feeling - pouring it all out on social to your Black friends won't make them feel connected to you, it just places the burden of your feelings on top of their own.Send money, send a meal, buy from Black businesses. BE USEFUL.

Here's the National Bail Fund Network; consider doing some local good. 

#dadthoughts

Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.Tiny snippets:A small mystery. Quentin likes peanut butter. Whenever I get the jar out so I can spread it on some bread for him, he points at it and says "I don't like the baby!" and giggles. The jar in question is Skippy Creamy, and does not (as far as either of us can tell) depict a baby in any way/shape/form anywhere on its surface. Many months ago, he got me puzzled when he kept talking about the butterfly on the side of the hummus container, but then I spotted the "NON GMO CERTIFIED" label on it that did in fact feature a butterfly. There's no baby anywhere on this Skippy jar, people! There's a picture of peanuts, and some little illustrations of snacks, but no babies. Maybe he detects a baby shape in the art somewhere?Musical taste. Two of his favorite songs right now are "Jingle Bells" and "Jingle Bell Rock," despite it being May. We don't play Xmas music in the house after Xmas. It's been months. And yet!Healing upgrades. Both Mavis and I have now witnessed the following:1. Quentin gets a booboo2. Quentin picks up Bunny3. He makes Bunny kiss a paw (pressing the paw to Bunny's face)4. He applies Bunny's paw to the boobooRest assured it's even more adorable to witness in person. 

Fascination Corner

I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye. 

  • Why the fuck even have cops if this is what they're doing? (Alexandra Erin via Threadreader) 

  • What To Do About Police Unions. (Lawyers, Guns & Money) 

  • May every business owner in Minneapolis have the same outlook as this one. (BuzzFeed News) 

  • Here's how to pull down a racist statue from someone with practical advice on the subject. (Sarah Parcak via Threadreader) 

  • Mutual aid groups that have sprung up in communities dealing with the rona have turned to workplace productivity tools to coordinate and execute their efforts; good idea/bad idea? (~$Atlantic) 

  • Somewhat related: one study conducted at my alma mater seems to indicate social networks make people worse at responding to disasters in a timely or accurate manner, but I want to see more research. (HCI Institute at CMU) 

  • There's an Earth-size planet orbiting the nearest star to ours in its habitable zone, although because it's a red dwarf, it only takes about 11 days to complete a "year." (U of Geneva) 

  • HTTP STATUS DOGS (HTTP STATUS DOGS) 

  • "Covid-19 is making way for a tabletop game renaissance". (~$Quartz) 

  • Why are our teeth so crappy compared to those of other animals? (~$Scientific American) 

  • Here are "3 Behavioral Trends That Will Reshape Our Post-Covid World". (Harvard Business Review) 

  • Dogs really do want to rescue us, it would seem. (Arizona State) 

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.A band and their albumLoyal Ghost, The Infinity Letters 

Thanks

If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't.