I, too, came here to say this, but I knew in my heart it had already been said.

That’s not really true anymore either. The working class is leaning sharply right these days. I think it’s more “you get more conservative the more you perceive yourself to be competing against others for limited resources,” a mindset which you see at all economic levels these days.

(4/4) Don’t take your local library for granted! They offer so many amazing free services for the community. Give your library some love— especially during National Reading Month! (4/4)

(3/4) I feel moved to bring this up because I learned that the Warren County Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to defund the large, popular, 200-year-old Samuels Public Library in Front Royal. It had been awarded the title of 2024 Virginia Library of the Year. (3/4)

(2/4) PS. I want to give a shout-out to my beloved Fairfax County library system. I save hundreds of dollars every year from checking out my books from them. I’ve never NOT lived within walking distance of a public library in my entire life! (2/4)

I also have this bizarre fever dream running joke about Josh Groban and Ben Platt being mortal foes.

www.tumblr.com/schmergo/721...

Because Wendy summoned me… I have an (85% joking) lifelong grudge against Orlando Bloom and call him my nemesis because I was annoyed by how my classmates all had crushes on him as a tween despite him being the most boring part of not one but two hit fantasy franchises. I bet he’s nice, though.

Do I love Moby-Dick? I think it’s like asking if I love drinking water. It’s part of my body chemistry at this point. Did I like reading it? Well, it felt like slowly having individual eyelash hairs pulled out by a very weak pneumatic tube for 12 hours straight. (7/7)

Probably at least 1-2 times a week, I’m like, “Wow, that reminds me of Moby-Dick.” Like maybe half of the movies I watch or books I read, I’m like, “Was that a subtle and tenuous Moby-Dick reference?” (6/7)

Aesthetically, I am obsessed with the overall “nautical gothic” vibe of the book. It’s a sweet old grandma’s house with seashell/lighthouse themed bathroom decorations and literal skeletons in her closet. (5/7)

But at the same time, the THEMES! The SYMBOLS! The overall strange heavy ominous feeling of Fate and Significance that hangs over the book! The unexpected bursts of humor! At times when reading Moby-Dick, it’s like seeing the clouds part and revealing a brief flash of the divine. (4/7)

The characters are somehow both some of the most fascinating and iconic I’ve ever encountered and yet strangely undeveloped. The pacing is bizarre. The characters speak in like 18 different dialects, some of them made-up and lowkey culturally insensitive. (3/7)

I’ve never read a book that made me feel the way that one did, because huge chunks of the book are… the narrative grinding to a halt to list questionable whale “facts” and descriptions of processing whale oil. (2/7)

The first line is “I know you wanted me to sautee”

I’m so sorry to hear that. That sounds incredibly difficult. I am fortunate that I always had supportive people around me growing up— I was just my own biggest hater!

Yes, that was me, from many years ago! Now my curse of not getting it out of my head is your curse!