Word of the Day
Amok (adj., ah-MUCK)
Uncontrollable and disruptive. Draw your own conclusions. Vote your own conscience but not out of fear.
Gif of the Day
Link of the Day
State of the Union 2
A few weeks ago was our two-year anniversary. Last year, we did a "state of the union” post on the day itself but this year, we didn’t get to write one in time.
It feels somewhat appropriate to post one today, though. This is election day in America, the time when the United States elects a variety of political leaders whom they believe can best handle the issues facing the nation. An election is often a referendum on the status quo: are things going as they should? Should we change course? In that context, a reflective post seems fitting.
So what does the status quo look like? Next week, we’ll post our five hundredth link of the day on The Dailies. We’ve already posted almost 800 words—the amount generally agreed upon to be basically proficient in a language. Total gifs posted since the site’s launch: in the high 600s. That’s a huge amount of material.
As you might expect, finding things to post has gotten harder as we’ve burned though many of the link library we started out with. But it’s also gotten harder to find new links that fit this site’s m.o. Whether it was the election coloring what people have been sharing, the cycles of work for creative people, or some unexplained other reason, the stuff just ain’t there like it was in our first year. We’re not finding things like the Shylights or the Luna lamps or cut rice paper rollercoasters consistently. The things we’ve posted have felt less special. It’s taken more and more time to find things for The Dailies, and I’m not sure that we’ve found good things to post.
This is one reason Dr. Rosalie de Rosset’s lecture on technology a few weeks ago hit home so much. She hammers home the point of doing good, worthwhile things. If we’re posting mediocre-quality stuff, are we doing good or are we actually doing what we don’t want to do? Is it worth continuing?
Yes, it is. Sites like The Dailies need to continue. In election cycles that are less fun than being put into a dark box with ten claustrophobic weasels with iron-tipped claws—times like these are when we need to be reminded of enduring beauty. We need to be able to have the broad perspective on time and humanity that timeless art provides, and we need to be able to enjoy things and take our minds off present challenges. (This is one reason why the fall foliage guide will be a perennial entry.) The Dailies, like the sites that inspired it, was trying to aim at something deeper than distraction.
The Dailies isn’t going away—yet. There will be an end someday, of course. But for now, it’s staying. (The frog is staying!) We will try to do more posts about things of enduring quality than we’ve done in the past, though, so expect more posts about specific works of art. If anyone wants to help us improve our website management so it’s easier for us to post, build in new features, or share the keys with others, our ears are perked; drop us a line please and thank you.
It’s precisely in the darkest times that the light is needed the most and that it shines through the most. Each weekday, for as long as we can, we’ll try to keep providing something like that.
See you tomorrow. Bring your joy.
States of the unionHappy birthday usTerrible twosElection yearsHope