brain fog

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Feb 21-27, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

Happy Friday eve 🙂 It’s time to get your mental corn popping!

Daniel Prude protest in Rochester ends, but organizers vow to return. Democrat & Chronicle

David K. Li reports that an independent probe accuses police and paramedics of wrongdoing in the death of Elijah McClain. NBC News

Marcus P. Nevius delves into the legacy of racial hatred behind the January 6 insurrection. JSTOR Daily

Malcolm X’s family demands his murder investigation be reopened. BBC

Erin Blakemore: Black women have been writing history for over a century. JSTOR Daily

Katelyn Burns: why police single out trans people for violence. Vox

Stella Chan and Leah Asmelash: Angelo Quinto dies after police kneel on his neck for five minutes. CNN

Meaghan Beatley introduces us to Frida Guerrera, the Mexican detective hunting the men who kill women. The Guardian

Andrea Hill and Ryan Kessler report that the lack of funding for piped water on Saskatchewan First Nations means some of reserves can’t drink from their taps. Global News

Andrea Warner: for decades, Buffy Sainte-Marie has had to navigate systemic barriers to cultivate her art. The Globe and Mail

Robert Reich: Texas freeze reveals chilling truth—that the rich use climate change to divide us. The Guardian

Jennifer Moss says, brain fog is a real thing. CBC

Vignesh Ramachandran: Stanford researchers identify four causes of “Zoom fatigue” and their simple fixes. Stanford News

Chi Luu considers the punk rock linguistics of cottagecore. JSTOR Daily

Percy returns a recording of the wind on Mars. SoundCloud

And here’s video of the landing and some of the first images courtesy of CBC.

Kim Fahner writes a love letter to Laurentian University. The Republic of Poetry

Artist “finger paints” masterpieces in the dust of dirty Moscow trucks. Return to Now

Helena Smith reports that a 20-million-year-old petrified tree is found intact in Lesbos. The Guardian

Molly Blackall: rare Amazonian cactus flowers for the first time in UK. The Guardian

Krista Langlois explains why scientists are starting to care about cultures that talk to whales. The Smithsonian Magazine

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you found something to inspire your next creative project.

This weekend, I should be putting up my next chapter update.

Until then, be well and stay safe, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Oct 25-31, 2020

/ Melanie Marttila

This is your last opportunity to get your mental corn popping until December. Enjoy!

Paulina Jayne Isaac explains where Amy Coney Barrett stands on upcoming important SCOTUS topics. Important for understanding how her influence will affect various marginalized and racialized people. Bustle

Breonna Taylor grand jurors say that Louisville police actions before her death were negligent and criminal. Apparently neither murder nor manslaughter were even on the table. NBC News

Tim Elfrink: Texas cop who killed Jonathan Price, a Black “pillar of the community” charged with murder. The Washington Post

John Philip Santos reveals the secret history of the Texas Rangers. Mass murder of Indigenous and Mexican peoples and bounty hunting escaped slaves were part of their assigned duties. Texas Monthly

Josh Wood introduces us to the US police department that hired social workers. The Guardian

Arne Delfs and Raymond Colitt: Merkel imposes toughest German restrictions since the lockdown. Bloomberg

Sophie Lewis reports that even Vladimir Putin is instituting a national mask mandate. CBS News

Rebecca Sohn reports that covid-19 patients are developing “brain fog,” but what does that mean? Mashable

Lina Zeldovich: what bats can teach us about coronavirus immunity. JSTOR Daily

Just because Halloween was last week doesn’t mean you have to stop with the spooky!

Jill Beatty considers Vardø’s witch trials: the evil north. An oldie-but-goodie? The Norwegian American

Tai Gooden reveals the history (both pure and evil) of the Ouija board. Also, check out the linked video on the Fox sisters. Nerdist

The editors at JSTOR Daily curate a list of Halloween-related articles. Perfect for this time of year!

Henri, le chat noir. L’haunting

Here are some spooky musical suggestions from the New York Public Library.

Emily Zarka presents modern zombies, a rebirth. Monstrum | PBS Storied

The Bakemono Zukishi “Monster” scrolls (18th – 19th centuries). Let these weirdos inspire your own twisted creations. The Public Domain Review

SciShow considers what Earth’s next supercontinent might look like.

NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) finds water on the moon.

SciShow Space news also features the lunar water discovery.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you took away something to inspire your next creative project.

I will not be abandoning you entirely in November. I’ll have weekly updates on the progress of my NaNo project.

Until my next update, be well and stay safe, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories.