Gretchen McCulloch's previous works of linguistic genius for The Toast can be found here. The
Wired
style guide changed my life. One particular sentence, in fact. We know from experience that new terms often start as two words, then become hyphenated, and eventually end up as one word. Go there now. Oh. I thought. Oh.
Good morning! Wake up! You're going to be late for school! What's that? It's me, silly. Your mother! It's August 26th, the first day of school, and you're going to be late if you don't get a move on. Sorry, what did you just say? Oh, don't be ridiculous, kiddo. You know what year it is. You're twelve years old, and you're starting the seventh grade today, and it's just after six am. Your alarm…
We'll be talking to Friend Of The Toast Kate Harding a BUNCH about her new book in September, but in the meantime, she's tearing up the press rounds with a ton of great reviews and fascinating interviews:
You point out in the book that a lot of politicians, including our current president, frequently use "wife, mother, daughter" language to talk about issues like sexual assault. You aren't a fan of
I waited for my mother to notice. I waited for what felt like weeks. It was disgusting, and I was disgusted with myself; they were crawling everywhere, falling off my head onto my school books, fat with my blood. But I never took any action to deal with it myself. I waited for my mother to notice.
Dear Bear, So there’s a boy, and I really really like him, and I’ve liked him a while, and he likes me back in a kind of getting married-like way, though we’re not engaged. But we’ve talked about “our life” as though it’s assured going forward. He’s from a family that’s like my family in various ways, and there’s a lot of expectation and positivity. It’s clear that if I marry him I will be…
Aries: It's a classic Aries move to die in the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Aries are independent, sometimes moody, generous, and incapable of surviving the onslaught of Sultan Mehmed II's army once they cross the north side of the Golden Horn. Whether you're a soldier in Mehmed's service or a terrified member of the Byzantine royal family cowering in the city's crumbling defenses, there's no way you're making it out of the siege alive. Taurus:…
Went to the gym daily to bulk up in order to become strong and worthy of her, using "for Serena" as his concentration mantra in between reps Played Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" on repeat during Tabata workouts to keep his focus pure Casually looked up tennis scoring names on his phone just before starting conversation with her, clenching his fist and muttering to himself, "It's love, fifteen, thirty, forty, game, you can do this,…
Kelly Davio's previous Waiting Room columns for The Butter can be found here. Next month Fox brings back its wildly popular show, Empire, featuring Lucious Lyon, the fictional music mogul, record executive, and bad guy of Shakespearean proportions. Lucious spent the first season of the drama believing he was dying of ALS. But in the final hours of Season One, a smiling neurologist told Lucious he actually has myasthenia gravis, and that it’s “highly…
We've talked a bit about the "Power of Women" motif popular in Renaissance-era European art before. It was a glorious time for art, when every neoclassicist Lowlander worth his salt painted women riding classical scholars like ponies and legendary heroes forced to wear beautiful pink dresses. And one of the more popular scenarios under the "Power of Women" umbrella was that of King Solomon being led into idolatry by his wives. You are, I…
I set out to write about podcasts and representation in terms of media criticism; to ask podcasters, Who do you record with? Who gets to hold the mic? Are you sharing the (Internet) airwaves with people of color, LGBTQ people, women, and other marginalized groups? I wanted to hear more about content and diversity. But when I talked to five podcasters, each smart and successful in her own way, I also learned a lot more about…
Jelani Cobb: Jamaica had become an institution of the type that has vexed city policymakers and educators: one charged with serving a majority-minority student body, most of whose members qualified as poor, and whose record was defined by chronic underachievement and academic failure. Even so, word of the school’s closure angered students and their families, the community, and alumni. I was among them—I graduated with the class of ’87—and for me, as for many…
The TV is too loud because he’s hard of hearing, and he leans forward so he doesn’t miss a word, his eyes hungry, unblinking. The motorcycle sport documentary
On Any Sunday
plays on the screen, and though my dad has probably seen it a dozen times, his fascination will never fade. He’s watching the part about the famous Widowmaker hill climb-- the 1,000-foot-tall mountain slope in Utah that only twenty riders out
Genesis 13:12-13 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly problematic and sinful against the Lord. Genesis 18:23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the bitchin' with the problematic?" Exodus 9:27 And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have…
In the year since Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown, Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri, graphic videos and images of police brutality against unarmed black Americans have flooded social media feeds, thanks to the potent combination of ubiquitous cell phone cameras and the tireless efforts of Black Lives Matter activists. Like many, I’ve followed this stream of events with increasing frustration and horror, as these incidents remind us of racism and police brutality’s knock-on effects. Racist police brutality degrades community morale,…
