The point of art is not improved living; the point of art is precisely not to be boxed in by the … blinkered project of leading a life
Irish horror films find mainstream success. “Irish folklore is particularly dark and lends itself to horror,” said the film’s writer and director, Kate Dolan, 31. “Not a lot of happy endings – a lot of people being dragged to their doom.”
Mark Twain Slept Here: Heidelberg, Germany
NEWS YOU CAN USE: More Airlines Are Losing Luggage. AirTags and Tile Trackers Can Help.
In Jhumpa Lahiri’s metaphor-rich mind, translation is like swimming, a series of doors, a form of blindness, a kind of graft, a process of dismantling
GOOD THING I’M SO CHEERFUL, THEN: Depression may be a warning sign before stroke.
The 2021 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® employee engagement and satisfaction “score is 64.5 out of 100, representing a 4.5-point decrease from 2020 in how our nation’s civil servants view their agencies and jobs. This significant downturn in job and organizational engagement and satisfaction came as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to disrupt the federal workforce and the larger labor market during the final months of 2021 when employees were surveyed.
During this timeframe, tens of thousands of civil servants—and their private sector peers—faced uncertainty about returning to the office after more than a year and a half working remotely part or full-time, while a sizable portion of the federal workforce remained on the frontlines performing critical public services as the health crisis persisted. The federal employee COVID-19 vaccine mandate went into effect on Nov. 22, in the middle of the survey period. The sizable drop in employee engagement and satisfaction came during President Joe Biden’s first year in office. The Senate had confirmed only 55% of the administration’s political appointee nominations by the end of 2021. This is lower than the first-year confirmation rate for Presidents Donald Trump (57%), Barack Obama (69%) and George W. Bush (75%).
During this dynamic period, the leadership vacancy rates presented a major challenge for the administration, which has described federal employees as the “backbone of our government” and committed in the President’s Management Agenda to “make every federal job a good job, where all employees are engaged, supported, heard and empowered.” Most of the agency engagement and satisfaction scores decreased or held steady in 2021, with just 25 of 71, or 35%, of the government’s large, midsize and small agencies showing improvements. Those registering higher scores present a model and roadmap for federal leaders of what is working and how to create a rewarding and safe employee experience during this volatile time. Looking closely at specific elements of the employee experience in 2021 presents a workforce at a critical and stressful turning point.
Though the COVID-19 work-related scores trended slightly down in 2021, federal employees were still largely positive regarding how agency leaders and supervisors handled concerns about their well-being, posting a score of 85.2 out of 100 in a category of COVID-19 related questions on flexible work schedules, expanded leave policies, vaccine protocols and a safe workplace…”
'80 Books Every Man Should Read' ?
Esquire has (another) list of 80 Books Every Man Should Read.
These kinds of lists don't seem particularly useful, but, hey, it's a list ..... (And it is kind of fun, in its all-over-the-place-ness .....)
Charlotte Mandell Q & A
At Famous Writing Routines they have a Q & A with the translator, Interview with Charlotte Mandell.
Among her responses:
If you could give just one piece of advice to someone trying to get into the translation field, what would it be ?Which sounds like good advice for everyone, not just those interested in getting into the translation field .....
Read as much as you can, in any language you know (and in some you don't).
Fake plastic peas
is Lego’s policy of upgraded reissues hurting the collector’s market? / a visit to Albany Court in London / a visit to Horace Gifford’s Fire Island, another predominantly masculine enclaves / roll up to Stuart Semple’s Festival of Happiness at the Dulwich Picture Gallery / the story of ‘I feel love‘ / why tracking our media consumption is so addictive / micro (un)masterpieces at the Lyttle Lytton Contest / prints and paintings by Kit Boyd / paintings by Sue Williams A’Court / The Plastic Food Edition, which leads us to the website of Iwasaki Be-I, Japan’s pioneering supplier of plastic menu items / Just-Cassette, Just-CDand Just-MD, vintage audio collections.
