Hi, Hello, I’m Back At It

*peeks hesitantly around the corner*

Hey everyone. Tomorrow, after almost 7 months of a sabbatical break, I’m resuming regular publication of kottke.org. (Actually, I’ve been posting a bit here and there this week already — underpromise & over-deliver, etc.) I’m going to share more about what I’ve been up to (and what I’ve not been up to) in a massive forthcoming post, but for now, know that I’m happy to be back here in the saddle once again. (And that my fiddle leaf fig is doing well!)

I am, however, still dealing with some chronic pain that sometimes makes it difficult for me to work. I’m doing the things I need to do to get better & stronger, but just be aware that it might affect my output here. It’s a very frustrating situation — in many ways, I’m in the best physical shape of my life and am excited to be back here but this more-or-less constant background pain is a real source of friction as I go about my day. Just wanted to get that out there — thanks for your continued patience.

Ok, here we go!

• Jason Kottke
• kottke.org
• working

The Vanity Fair Interview with Billie Eilish, Year Six

Every year since she was 15, Billie Eilish has sat down for a video interview with Vanity Fair to take stock of where she’s at in life, how her career is going, and how the present compares to the past. The sixth installment has just been released (and will be the last annual release for awhile).

These are always so fun to watch — and what an amazing bit of luck on Vanity Fair’s part that they picked a very young pop star at the beginning of her career who would go on to win an Oscar some five years later. (via waxy)

• Billie Eilish
• interviews
• music
• video

That 90’s Show. Those crazy bastards really went and did it.

“i trained an ai chatbot on my childhood journal entries - so that i could engage in real-time dialogue with my ‘inner child’”

Monorail! / What’s it called? / Monorail! / Once again / Monorail! / But Main Street’s still all cracked and broken / Sorry Mom, the mob has spoken

The FDA has approved the sale of lab-grown meat in the US. “The process had a futuristic vibe but by the end of the tour, it felt somehow ordinary to me - like a kind of hydroponic gardening.”

A reminder: The Kid Should See This Gift Guide is top-notch.

The Qatar World Cup and the hypocritical West. “Qatar is not a pariah state – it exists in a global political system of western sponsors that have forged deep alliances with Gulf monarchies and extended them immunity.”

I read 23 books (and counting) on my sabbatical. As a preview of my next media diet post, here’s a roughly chronological list of everything I’ve read over the past 3+ years.

RIP Fred Brooks, author of the seminal The Mythical Man-Month.

John Oliver on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar: “I won’t say that Qatar definitely got the World Cup through bribery, but I won’t say that they didn’t and I will say that they did.”

There are now 8 billion people in the world.

As EVs gain wider adoption in the US, lack of infrastructure and other challenges remain. “Range anxiety is real. If you are trying to get stuff done, and you have kids in the back, the last thing you need is, ‘Is my car going to get there?’”