PicoBlog

Yesterday at 4.45 PM Tina gently passed away. She was in her favourite hammock wrapped in blankets in my arms and with 4 lovely woman who have helped care for her holding her paws. Her belly was full of sausages and treats, she was basking in the warm late evening sun and her favourite song was playing. Tina was still alive in this picture but as far as she was concerned she was already very much in heaven and surrounded by pure love.

We all have “My” restaurants. You know, “My” McDonald’s. “My” Taco Bell. “My” Wendy’s. You know, a place near you that’s always been there, or so it seems. You may not eat there very often or at all. You may be so calorie and cholesterol conscious that you wouldn’t be caught dead in one, for fear of ending up, well, dead. “Your” restaurant may simply serve as a handy landmark when giving directions.

I wrote a fall bar preview for The New York Times this week. It was chock full of news, included information on new bars from the folks behind Dutch Kills, Rolo’s, Smith & Mills, Valerie, The Odd Couple and Maison Premiere. But the biggest piece of news, by far, was that the original East Village location of Amor y Amargo would be closing up shop at the end of the year and reopening in 2024 as a new concept called All Hands.

Welcome to another December letter. In recent news, it snowed here in London on Sunday. My neighbourhood did in many ways remind me of the Bruegel scenes I discussed last week - although with (sadly) less rudimental ice hockey as the Thames did not have the courtesy to freeze over. Since last week leaned into the winter weather, I thought this week could instead celebrate some Mediterranean escapism. And since I haven’t yet dedicated a letter to an exclusively architectural topic I thought it about time to spend a few hundred words waxing poetic about some obscure building that few of you have likely heard of/care about But that is the joy of Artifex!

Rachel McArthur first began to grasp how fit she was when she hopped in a 5,000m race at William & Mary at the beginning of April. It was her first race back after undergoing surgery eight months earlier. Following instructions from coach Ben Thomas, she paced some Virginia Tech runners through 3K, and then picked up the pace. After averaging 3:15/kilometer for the first 3K, she averaged 2:59/kilometer for the last 2K.

Discovering, creating, and inventing a better world through technological innovation, economic growth, and pro-progress culture. By James PethokoukisNo thanks“This is the best newsletter for when I need a much-needed hit of techno-optimism. A welcome reminder that we should, and can, raise our technological ambitions.” “A great aggregation of news and ideas related to technological progress, by Jim Pethokoukis.” “In an age where so much is pessimism, it’s great to see a techno-optimist view of the world.

In case you’re new to me and don’t know already, I wrote a book called Fat Vampire. The TV/film rights to that book were optioned around five years ago, formally purchased in early 2021 by NBC/Universal, and made into a SyFy Network TV show called Reginald the Vampire. Reginald premiered in October of 2022, was renewed for a second season in early 2023, and as of this post is shooting that second season in Victoria, British Columbia.

Remember the hero's journey from tenth-grade English class? - When the main character embarks on a quest to save the world, yet they have one thing that holds them back - their fatal flaw. Often the biggest conflicts in the most gut-wrenching stories aren't the monsters that come their way but the conflict the main character has with themselves. Really a "you vs you" moment. It's the internal conflict that draws us to stories like a magnet - where we can see glimpses of ourselves in the main characters.

On April 12, the Alabama Supreme Court rejected an appeal to dismiss a suit filed by Harvest Church in Dothan, AL against its annual conference and the General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church. The disaffiliation saga of The United Methodist Church has been taking place in earnest for the last couple of years. It is the latest in a series of mainline protestant denominations that has suffered a hostile takeover from religious leftists.