Yellowface by R. F. Kuang - Just read this book in one day. A story aboutt jealousy, originality, cultural appropriation, internet beefs, and book publishing.
It’s like a 350-page car wreck you can’t, won’t, look away from. Really enjoyed it.
The ‘Monsters’ Behind the Wall, by Lailah Radhiya – A first-person account of the walls going up in Israel/Palestine and the fear behind so much suffering now.
🔆 😌 🎄 I wrote and recorded a short song this weekend. I’m calling it “The SAD Lamp Carol”. davidarcher.net/blog/the-…
📚🇨🇦 I just posted this to my bookshop’s socials but it applies across Canada. There’s no GST on books between Dec 14 (tomorrow) and Feb 15, 2025. So get out to your local bookshop!
Introducing BookTalk, a new column about books and the people who read them
📚 Here’s introducing BookTalk, a new column I’m writing on behalf of our Haida Gwaii #bookshop, Which 3rd Avenue Books. This 1st issue is Haida Gwaii Wrapped: Your 2024 in Books. I spill the goss about what the community’s been reading and share some customer book recommendations. Enjoy! #BC #books #bookstodon
TIL 280+ airports have joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program
Have you heard of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program? More travellers should know about this.
I was making my way home from Vancouver to Haida Gwaii last week and picked up a sunflower lanyard from the YVR info desk. I’d just spent a week with a film crew in Tofino, BC, recording interviews for the Travel Beyond podcast. I’m very excited to share the results sometime in early 2025. And after a few intense days of meeting new people and hearing meaningful stories related to travel, culture, and the environment, I was glad to have a couple of recovery days on the way home.
This was my first business trip in more than five years. Covid is one reason. But I also have a chronic illness that has prevented me from going places. It demands a lot of time for rest and recovery in between normal life activities, never mind travelling to new places and navigating airports. Before this fall I’m not sure I would have considered going at all, but things have been getting a little bit better.
So when I remembered that the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program existed, I was curious to try it out. This is how YVR (Vancouver’s airport) describes the program.
“The Sunflower is a globally recognized symbol for non-visible disabilities, also known as hidden disabilities or invisible disabilities. Passengers can choose to wear the Sunflower lanyard when travelling through the airport to indicate to airport staff that they may need support, assistance or just a little more time in the airport.”
It was very easy to get the sunflower lanyard at YVR, no questions asked. I was feeling okay that day, so I didn’t need extra support right then. But my body isn’t predictable enough to really know for sure how I’d respond, especially in a noisy, bright environment, so it was nice to have with me.
Eventually I made it to the gate. After I boarded the plane, an Air Canada steward said she noticed my lanyard and asked if I needed anything in particular. I still didn’t, but it still felt good to be seen.
The most powerful thing about the Sunflower is that, maybe for the first time ever, I could show other people that I have an invisible illness without any effort, emotional or otherwise. It was my choice to disclose, and no one asked me details. The lanyard is just a signal to anyone in the know that, hey, this guy might need a little more time or compassion today. So slow down a bit. And that’s always a good reminder.
The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program is now available in 280+ airports. Some airlines, including Air Canada, Air New Zealand, KLM, and Qantas have trained their entire staff on it.
Learn more at yvr.ca or hdsunflower.com.
P.S. – The Sunflower goes beyond travel. If you want to geek out on this a little more, LEGO is now part of the program and has designed characters wearing the lanyard! Check it out.
This article was originally published at www.davidarcher.net
This seems like a good way to communicate compassionately with people in your life who carry harmful delusions. (Discounting the rest of the thread about media.) Saving here for reference.
In positive BC news, an agreement between Indigenous groups and municipalities to protect water: www.haidagwaiiobserver.com/news/hist… #climate
Saving this book here for later, thanks to The Big Story podcast.
thebigstorypodcast.ca/2024/11/1…
Multisolving: Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World, by Dr. Elizabeth Swain
#books #climate
🎹 I released a short piano EP last month. It’s called Radiant, and it features J.S. Bach and my dog Zappa. I wrote about why I made this and what it means to record 300-year-old music here, now.
#piano #music
TIL that The Onion’s parent company is called Global Tetrahedron 😂
🎹 Tonight’s listen: The utterly serene “Joy Paradox” by Cephas Azariah. Clouds of piano + synth. music.apple.com/ca/album/…
NOTAFLOF is my newest favourite initialism. Fun to say, good news, makes me smile every time. (No one turned away for lack of funds) #NOTAFLOF #words
Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.2
Tonight’s music discovery 🎻: Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.2, a four-movement piece followed by eight remixes. Listening to track 7, “2nd Movement (Vex’d Remix)”, and I’ll be back for more later. Gabriel is based in London, grandson to Sergei.
gabrielprokofiev.bandcamp.com/album/gab…
#stringquartet #classical #remix
Currently reading: The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Currently reading: The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates 📚 – Just started the audiobook. So far it’s equal parts autobiography, travelogue, and Black history, as well as a letter to his writing students. I had to stop and write this one down:
“It is never enough for the reader of your words to be convinced. The goal is to haunt. To have them think about your words before bed, see them manifest in their dreams. Tell their partner about them the next morning. To have them grab people on the street, shake them and say ‘Have you read this yet?’”
As though in solidarity or some kind of primal defiance, both our animals have puked this morning. Vibes are way off - take care ❤️
Made this modular origami piece using the rose module designed by Tomoko Fuse. 90 pieces, stellated truncated icosahedron. Used old sheet music that was going to be thrown out. Bach preludes and fugues, mostly. The paper was a bit brittle but it’s a good result.
Some good things I've read and watched lately – Oct 2024
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Belle (2021) - Anime scifi-musical directed by Mamoru Hosoda. Incredible visuals and a touching story about a grieving high school girl who becomes an overnight global pop sensation – but only on the internet. Accurate depictions of online culture and a unique take on the Beauty and the Beast story. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell…
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This talk by journalist/author Ed Yong from the 2024 XOXO Festival – Ed Yong wrote long-form stories about the pandemic for the Atlantic and won a Pulitzer for it. He also gave a voice to people suffering from long COVID, as well as health workers who were being gaslit for doing their jobs, and emphasized that public health is a collective responsibility. www.youtube.com/watch
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Magical/Realism: Essays on music, memory, fantasy, and borders – Book of essays by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, a latina writer who talks about her experience as an immigrant to Texas and the role of fantasy franchises like Game of Thrones, Baldur’s Gate, and The Witcher in her self-discovery. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704…
Just listened to a really good episode about disability on the Ologies podcast:
Disability Sociology (DISABILITY PRIDE) with Guinevere Chambers
An Ojibwe-language dubbed Star Wars film has been made, premiering in Winnipeg. Seems like a huge win for Indigenous language preservation/reconciliation. More, please!
Every so often an audiobook comes along that is well-written AND funny AND has perfect character narration. This is that book, and it’s a great time.
I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom, by Jason Pargin
Making a Brain Fog Index
This was cathartic to write for myself this week. There are descriptions too. Does anyone want to read more? I might turn it into something.
“brain fog index Cataloguing my experience of brain fog in the context of chronic illness
Lvl 1: Flow Lvl 2: Triage Lvl 3: Midnight swamp Lvl 4: Void Lvl 5: ?(dead)”
Making happy spaces for my brain
Here’s a guide from neurodivergent psychologist Megan A Neff on finding just the right amount of stimulation. A topic I’ve been thinking about as I create a new studio space.
How to Find Your Sensory Goldilocks: Achieving the “Just Right” Fit
I got a little folding done at the bookshop tonight.
Chameleon designed by Jo Nakashima, folded by me on 15x15cm kami
