Cowboy Who?

The district was sued earlier this month by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton because it's not complying with Senate Bill 10. Federal judges have blocked 25 other Texas school districts from displaying the commandments, saying the state law is likely unconstitutional.

mst3kgifs:

Send my mask to mother!

In brief: In today’s post we discuss the region’s ongoing, record-setting heat; our uncertain rain chances for this weekend, and an eventual cooldown next week. We also dive into the chatter about a ‘sudden stratospheric warming event,’ and what that might mean for Texas.

What is a stratospheric warming event, anyway?

In recent days there has been buzz about a sudden warming in the mid-levels of the atmosphere, about 5 to 25 miles above the surface, above the poles. This is the stratosphere, where the atmosphere is very thin. It lies above the troposphere, where we live, and most of our weather patterns develop. However, when there is a significant warming of the stratosphere over the poles it can influence conditions lower in the atmosphere. Such is the case with a “sudden stratospheric warming event.”

The first thing to understand is that that such events are poorly understood, both in terms of why they occur, and what their impacts are. However this stratospheric warming does, at times, lead to a weakening of the polar vortex that bottles up colder air at the poles of the planet. And it is possible that the present stratospheric warming event will weaken the polar vortex at the North Pole, and send some of this colder air shooting down into the Northern Hemisphere in about 10 days to two weeks.

Some of our AI modeling guidance suggests this will happen over North America. However, it is equally plausible at this point that the colder air will be released into Europe or Asia. For example, in the AI version of the European model we see the most significantly colder air pushed into Russia, with a lesser helping slipping down into the United States. In this scenario it would bring near-freezing temperatures to the Houston area during the early days of December. However this is just one outcome, and we would strongly caution wariness about such long-range forecasts.

Thursday

Ok, after our brief tour of global and upper atmospheric weather, let us return to our focus on Houston. It may not be stratospheric, but the city tied its record high of 85 degrees on Wednesday (previously set in 1985). Today’s record high is 84 degrees, and we probably will tie this record today as well, if not beat it. Conditions will remain very humid, with partly to mostly cloudy skies. This afternoon will be windier, with gusts as high as 20 mph, from the south. There will be a slight chance of rain today and tonight, perhaps 10 or 20 percent. Any showers that develop will pass quickly. Lows will only drop to around 70 degrees.

Friday

This will be another warm day, with temperatures in the mid-80s. A front will sag toward the area, and this will increase shower and (possibly) thunderstorm chances. However I must say that as we have gotten into the territory of higher resolution models they have really backed off on the potential for precipitation. I still think there’s a 50 percent chance of rain on Friday and Friday night, but the overall rain totals will be on the lower side, with most areas probably picking up less than one-half inch through Saturday. Lows Friday night will remain warm, likely in the upper 60s.

Saturday and Sunday

The weak front is going to move into Houston and stall out. This will have some interesting and unpredictable effects on our weather this weekend. It’s likely that some areas inland of Interstate 10 will see some drier and briefly cooler air, with perhaps the maximum extent of this nose of drier air occurring on Saturday night into Sunday morning. The presence of the stalled front will also mean that the region continues to see a decent chance of showers on Saturday, and possibly Sunday as well. These will not be wall to wall showers by any means, but should mostly be brief. However we can’t rule out a few thunderstorms. Anyway, my guess for temperatures this weekend is low 80s, with partly sunny skies. Some inland areas may drop into the lower 60s on Saturday night as the front reaches its furthest extent.

Next week

The ‘front’ should lift back north on Sunday only to be followed by a second front that looks to be stronger. This will bring a healthy chance of rain on Monday and Monday night. By Tuesday or Wednesday we should see an influx of cooler and drier air. My prediction for Thanksgiving Day remains for morning temperatures in the lower 50s, with highs in the upper 60s. Skies should be mostly sunny. Lows will bottom out on Friday and Saturday, probably. Anyway, it should feel more like late November in Houston, finally. Precise details to come.

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Sometimes the biggest battles at work — and definitely the funniest — are over very small things: the office-wide meltdown when new phones were installed with fewer speed dial buttons; mundane parking rules that led to threats, bribery, and fake parking tickets; a rebellion after a change to the cafeteria’s sushi trays; and a full-on mutiny over thinner bacon.

Let’s discuss very big office battles over very small things. Share what you’ve seen in the comment section.

The post let’s discuss: very big office battles over very small things appeared first on Ask a Manager.

“There is a piece of cloth flying above city hall that I don’t like!!” Luke and the Panel (Clare Blackwood, Nile Seguin and Megan MacKay) talk about the Liberals (barely) passing their budget, the Conservatives new ‘hide behind the curtain’ voting strategy, and Donald Trump’s Epstein problem getting worse by the day. Then the Approximately […]

The post Toronto City Hall flying Palestinian Flag declared the most innocuous thing Conservative media has ever pissed their pants over appeared first on The Beaverton.

Remember, Microspeak is not necessarily jargon exclusive to Microsoft, but it’s jargon that you need to know if you work at Microsoft.

You may receive an email message that was sent to large group of people, and it will say something like “Little-r me if you have any questions.” What is a little-r?

The term “little-r”¹ (also spelled “little ‘r'” or other variations on the same) means to reply only to the sender, rather than replying to everyone (“reply all”). My understanding is that this term is popular outside Microsoft as well as within it.

As I noted some time ago, employees in the early days of electronic mail at Microsoft used a serial terminal that was connected to their Xenix email server, and they used the classic Unix “mail” program to read their email. In that program, the command to reply only to the email sender was (and still is) a lowercase “r”. The command to reply to everyone is a capital “R”. And the “little-r” / “big-R” commands were carried forward into the WZMAIL program that most employees used as a front end to their Xenix mail server.

These keyboard shortcuts still linger in Outlook, where Ctrl+R replies to the sender and Ctrl+Shift+R replies to all. If you pretend that the Ctrl key isn’t involved, this is just the old “little-r” and “big-R”.

Related reading: Why does Outlook map Ctrl+F to Forward instead of Find, like all right-thinking programs? Another case of keyboard shortcut preservation.

¹ Note that this is pronounced “little R”, and not “littler”.

The post Microspeak: Little-r appeared first on The Old New Thing.

"Frontera Freeways" explores the legacy of growth and displacement brought on by the precursor to I-10.

Abbott fought for months to keep secret emails between his office and Elon Musk. Now, hundreds of pages have been released.

As Texas heads into an eventful holiday season, here are several festive parades to look forward to in cities around the state.

Fort Worth, 2025 GM Financial Parade of Lights
Sunday, November 23, at 6 p.m.

The 2025 GM Financial Parade of Lights in Fort Worth is coming up quickly. The parade, which bills itself as one of the top illuminated parades in the country, kicks off at the intersection of Weatherford and Throckmorton Streets in the city’s downtown.

This year’s Grand Marshal is Chris Cassidy, President and CEO of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation in Arlington. High school marching bands, car clubs, Ballet Folklorico, and the Grinch will be among more than 100 participants in the Parade of Lights.

Tickets for reserved seating are available on the parade website. The event will be broadcast live on TXA-21 television, and Facebook Live.

Houston, 76th Annual H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade
Thursday, November 27, at 9 a.m.

Identified as one of the oldest such parades in the nation, the 76th Annual H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade will draw several hundred thousand spectators to downtown Houston.

Grand Marshals for the parade are Houston sports mascots Toro, Clutch, Orbit, and Diesel, and featured performers include Christina Wells, Danny Gokey, and Payton Howie.

Check the parade website for detailed information.

El Paso, Sun Bowl Thanksgiving Day Parade
Thursday, November 27, at 10 a.m.

If you’re willing to include the first versions held on New Year’s Day in 1935 and 1936, the Sun Bowl Thanksgiving Day Parade in El Paso (it moved to Turkey Day in 1978) is yet older.

Also held on the holiday itself, the parade travels down Montana Avenue, starting at Ochoa Street and ending at Copia Street. More than 100 floats, equestrian units, marching bands, military ceremonial units, Mexican and Indian dance ensembles, drum and bugle corps, and local celebrities will celebrate with Grand Marshal Chef Aarón Sánchez.

The theme for 2025 is “Childhood Is Where Dreams Are Born.” Tickets for reserved seating are available for $10, and a link to a live stream of the event are available here.

Dallas, Dallas Holiday Parade  
Saturday, December 6, at 8:30 a.m.

The Dallas Holiday Parade is the City’s largest one-day, outdoor event. More than 350 television stations in 159 markets have syndicated the parade, which won 2024 Emmy awards for its producers and hosts.

Called the “Miracle on Commerce Street” since its origins in 1988, the parade route begins at Commerce and Houston Streets. There will be vendors, entertainment, and holiday fun at Main Street Gardens and Civic Gardens before and after the parade, which begins at 9 a.m. and lasts about two hours.

Information on tickets for reserved seating, and a link to a Google Map denoting the parade path, is available here.

San Antonio, Ford Holiday River Parade and Lighting Ceremony
Friday, November 28, at 6 p.m.

San Antonio loves its namesake river, which it celebrates regularly with festive flotilla parades. One of the biggest and brightest is the Ford Holiday River Parade and Lighting Ceremony, viewable along the downtown River Walk. The event begins at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, with a live broadcast starting at 7:05 p.m. sharp from the Arneson River Theatre.

The river parade boasts 200,000 lights, with floats reflecting the theme “Merry Movie Magic.” Appropriately, Buddy the Elf from the musical Elf will be the parade’s grand marshal.

Information on tickets for seating throughout the parade route is available on the San Antonio River Walk website.

Corpus Christi, Port of Corpus Christi Illuminated Boat Parade
Saturday, December 6, 2025, at 7 p.m.
La Posada Lighted Boat Parade
Friday, December 12, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, December 13, at 6 p.m.

Corpus Christi celebrates the holidays with not one, but three parades, appropriate to its Gulf Coast location.

The Port of Corpus Christi Illuminated Boat Parade runs Saturday, December 6, at the Downtown Seawall. Boaters from Corpus Christi and beyond will set sail in a sea of lights while competing for the most festive vessel of the season. An afterparty follows.

The following weekend, the two-day La Posada Lighted Boat Parade brings cheer to two locations on Padre Island. On Friday, December 12, the parade starts at the JFK Bridge, with watch parties at Marker 37 and Doc’s Seafood & Steaks, which will also accept new, unwrapped toys for kids. On Saturday, December 13, the parade starts at Caravel Boat Ramp North, then travels down the South Canals.

For further information on both parades, check out the Visit Corpus Christi website.

Brownsville, 73rd Annual Brownsville Christmas Parade
Saturday, December 6, at 7 p.m.

The 89th annual Charro Days celebration kicks off in Brownsville with a Christmas parade downtown on St. Nicholas Day.

The post Where to See Thanksgiving and Holiday Parades In Texas appeared first on Glasstire.

Glasstire counts down the top five art events in Texas.

For last week’s picks, please go here.

The post Top Five: November 20, 2025 appeared first on Glasstire.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Employee keeps falling asleep in meetings

I have an employee who joined the team about 10 months ago. He is a good contributor so far, but I’ve noticed he has a bad habit of drowsing off during afternoon meetings, especially ones that are within an hour after lunch. I brought it up to him once about 2-3 months after he joined the team, and told him frankly that it was unprofessional and not acceptable. He agreed and said that he would work on getting better. But in the past month I’ve noticed it happening again. He’s also a bit older (maybe early 60’s though I don’t know his exact age) — not that age changes anything, but maybe makes him more susceptible to post-lunch food coma?

I’ll likely bring it up again in my next one-on-one with him next week, but I’m concerned about things possibly backsliding again. Any ideas on what to do if that happens?

Just be direct! “We talked about this previously, but I’ve noticed it’s happening again. If there are things we can do on our end to help, I’m very open to them, but I do need you to get it under control permanently, not just temporarily.”

But also think about whether there are tweaks you can make that would help. For example, it’s probably not realistic to avoid all afternoon meetings but since he otherwise does good work, is there any room for reshuffling things in a way that would minimize this without much inconvenience (like if there’s one meeting where it always happens and that meeting could easily be before lunch rather than after)? Are your meeting rooms too warm? Sufficiently stocked with caffeine? Can you encourage people to stand or move around during meetings if they need to?

I’m not saying this is on you to solve — he’s an adult who has to figure out how to manage his own energy patterns (or needs to raise it if there’s a medical issue he needs accommodations for) — but there’s no harm in being thoughtful about small tweaks that could help.

2. My office party is in a bar with a photo of me in a bikini on the wall

My director is taking out our team for a staff party and dinner at a local bar in a couple of weeks. The problem I have is that on the wall of that bar they have a bunch of pictures of the winners of their annual bikini contest. I won the contest in 2010 when I was in college and there’s a huge picture of me in my bikini on the wall and my name listed below on a gold colored plate. Should I consider not attending the event or perhaps begging HR to force them to move the event? Maybe I should just go and if the picture is noticed make a joke about it? Do you think anything bad would happen if my colleagues see a younger me in a bikini?

Well … if you work in a male-dominated field or just a particularly sexist or conservative one, it’s not great; that’s a context where it’s risks being really unhelpful to have your coworkers see you in the sort of sexualized way bikini contest winners tend to be portrayed in photos that hang on bar walls. (In other words, it’s not just the bikini itself; it’s the social framing around the photo.) If you don’t work in a male-dominated, conservative, or sexist field, it might not be a big deal, particularly since it’s from 15 years ago.

But if you do … any chance you could just ask the bar to take it down? A lot of people would be happy to oblige if you showed up and said, “My whole office is about to come here for a staff party in a week and I really don’t want them seeing a huge photo of me in a bikini; can you take it down for now?”

3. I was promised a monthly schedule, but it changes weekly

I’m two months into a new job as a full-time AV technician at an events venue. I’ve been doing similar jobs for the past few years on a freelance basis. I’m well accustomed to the demands of irregular and unpredictable hours. Before this role, I was often booked for a job the night before or day-of. This work is not my passion but it’s related to my love for making music and performing. I see this as my priority and work as a means of facilitating my passion. I’m in my 20s, if you couldn’t tell!

When I took this job, I was told by the COO in the interview that my working hours would be irregular from Monday to Sunday (anything from 7 am to 1 am) but by consolation I would be given my rota a month in advance. However, to my surprise, on my first day my manager said I would be given my rota weekly. That is, on a Saturday for the following week.

Despite my familiarity with irregular hours, I’m struggling with not being able to plan my personal commitments. When I was self-employed, I had the freedom to refuse work. In spite of my great efforts, band rehearsals are falling to the wayside and I have not seen my friends the past two months. I can request days off but it does not look professional to do so frequently, nor would the requests be approved. (However, this is the best salary I have ever received and am determined to stick around and do well here.)

I have constructively brought this up with my manager, even suggesting that I write my own rota two weeks in advance for his approval, as the calendar is about 90% certain at this point. However, I am simply ignored. I’m aware flexibility is a necessary condition for working in busy events operations, but I feel I was misled in this respect. Do you have any suggestions for how to advocate for myself tactfully or how to learn to cope in my own way?

Yeah, this isn’t reasonable — you can’t make plans if you have to keep your schedule wide open until two days before each week starts and you can only infrequently request specific dates off.

Have you told your boss that the COO explicitly promised you in the interview that you’d have your schedule a month in advance? If so, and he doesn’t care, are the internal politics there such that you could go back to the COO and say, “We talked about this explicitly in my interview, but it’s turned out that I’m only getting my schedule two days before the week starts. Since you’d mentioned when I was being hired that I’d have a lot more notice, I wanted to check back with you about it.”

If that seems like a politically risky move, then I’d ask yourself: would you have taken the job if you’d had the correct info about the schedule from the start? If so, that’s one way to frame it for yourself — that this isn’t ideal and it particularly sucks that you were given bad info, but that it wouldn’t have stopped you from accepting regardless. Additionally, I wonder if it’s possible for you to negotiate one day a week that you’ll always have off (or even every other week) so that you have some ability to plan?

4. Should a CEO’s contract prevent them from being unfairly fired?

The firing of the CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art has roiled my nonprofit world. It’s gossipy in and outside Philadelphia partly because so many unusually specific details of the firing were included in the news — for “just cause” almost never is actually part of the press release! — and also because she was under contract and it seems like contracts are supposed to prevent leaders from being fired quickly like this.

Not withstanding the specifics of the situation, can you clarify how a contract does, or does not, protect employees from regular hiring and firing decisions?

It varies widely depending on exactly what’s in the contract, but it would be typical for a contract for that type of position to spell out what would be cause for firing, which would generally include things like ethics violations and failure to perform (as opposed to leaving it wide open like at-will employment typically does) and what terms would govern a separation (how much severance, etc.). It’s also common for a contract at that level to include two different separation packages: one if the person is fired for cause, like fraud or gross negligence, and a higher package if the reason is something more like bad chemistry with the board or the organization making a strategic shift.

In this case, it looks like the board is claiming they fired her at least in part for improper spending; depending on what that means in practice, the firing could definitely be allowed under such a contract (assuming there was real financial impropriety, not buying herself a fancy pen or something). Or it could be BS to cover up that they just didn’t like her and wanted her gone (which sounds like is at least partly the case).

5. Can I give one employee a larger bonus than the others?

I have a newish employee, Jane, who is amazing. She’s been with the company for about six months. Jane inherited a messy situation from her predecessor, who was a poor fit for the role, and has not only cleaned that up, but also made significant improvements in our processes. She is trustworthy, reliable, hardworking, competent, and proactive. I feel really fortunate to have her on the team!

I try to give all my staff flexibility and perks in whatever ways I can manage, but Jane’s role is one of the least flexible on the team. (For example, other people are able to work remote, hybrid, or flex schedules, but she can’t, due to the nature of the role. Other people travel around our area for work and have company cars, but Jane is based in the office so she takes the bus.) It’s also the most junior role and pays the least.

We traditionally give bonuses at the end of the year, and I’d like to recognize Jane’s value and contributions to the company with a larger-than-normal bonus. I’m thinking $500-1,000 instead of $200-400. Is this a good idea even if I won’t be able to match it next year, the year after, etc.? Is it fair to my other staff, who are also wonderful and hardworking, but who get paid more and enjoy more perks year-round?

I don’t want to create bad feelings with other staff if people decide to discuss their bonuses (which may happen), and I also don’t want to set an expectation that I can’t live up to in subsequent years. But I feel strongly that Jane deserves recognition for how much she’s contributed thus far, and money is the best way to do that.

Note: We also give raises, and I fully expect to raise Jane’s salary, but she won’t be eligible until she completes her first year of employment.

You absolutely can give Jane a larger than normal bonus in recognition of her good work; that’s a very common and normal thing to do. You’d want to be prepared to explain the discrepancy if anyone asks about it, but it sounds like you’d be able to do that easily (she’s done an phenomenal job and she has the least flexible and lowest-paying role on the team).

To avoid setting Jane up to expect it every year, you can say something like, “Our year-end bonuses are typically less than this, but you’ve done such a fantastic job this year under difficult circumstances that I wanted you to get some special recognition for that.”

The post employee falls asleep in meetings, office party is at a bar where there’s a bikini photo of me, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager.

The post Hirsute Yourself appeared first on The Onion.

I bless the matte paintings down in Africa.

“President Trump assailed an American journalist in the Oval Office on Tuesday for asking Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, about the violent death of a Washington Post columnist at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. ‘You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,’ Mr. Trump told the journalist.” — New York Times

Excuse me, what kind of a question was that? Good God, do you kiss your mother with that mouth? I can’t believe you’d put our esteemed guest, Jason Voorhees, on the spot like that with your horrible, insubordinate, terrible, muckraking, fact-based journalism. That’s no way to treat a gentleman. That’s my friend you’re humiliating. Only I’m allowed to humiliate my friends.

Didn’t anyone ever teach you manners? Were you raised in a barn, piggy? Our guest came all the way from Camp Crystal Lake. Traffic was a nightmare. He didn’t have to make the trek—in fact, many people were saying he shouldn’t have come at all, that it’s actually crazy he’s coming—but he showed up anyway. That took a lot of guts. And how do we repay him? By asking him about the teens, right from the jump. Disgusting.

I am so sick of hearing about the teens. It was the 1980s. People don’t understand that New Jersey in the ’80s was a different time. Move on.

Look, things happen. And what happens at Camp Crystal Lake should stay at Camp Crystal Lake. We can’t hold everyone accountable for every little thing they’ve ever done. Our administration actually prides itself on not holding anyone accountable for anything. No hurt feelings here! So let’s not pour salt in old stab wounds.

Jason, I’m sorry for her insolence. You’re welcome here. You matter. You, sir, slay!

Aw, he’s blushing. You’ve made him so uncomfortable, he’s literally blood red under that big ol’ hockey mask. It’s okay, Jason, the shame is with her. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and the stronger you are, the more you can kill. Kidding!

Have you lying, unprofessional jerks at ABC, considered that the teens were annoying? That a lot of people didn’t even like those teens very much? That those teens had bad vibes and probably would have grown up to have even worse vibes? I’m just saying!

No matter how much you insult and try to rattle our sweet little prince Jason, we’re still giving him a bunch of brand-new machetes. We need the money. Picture this: Ballroom 2.0.

We’ve got the late, great Hannibal Lecter coming next week. Are you going to behave like this when he’s here? I’ll tell you one thing, he won’t stand for that lip. He’ll give you a knuckle sandwich, then he’ll take your knuckles and make them into a sandwich.

Apologize to Jason. Like you mean it. Like your life depends on it.

In this hallowed office, we treat people with respect. We don’t air their (ALLEGEDLY!) dirty laundry out in front of them for everyone to see. All your crappy company knows how to do is weaponize slander and fake news. It’s un-American. The FCC should take your license, chop it up into tiny pieces, and dispose of it.

QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario Premier Doug Ford is in production today on a new advertisement meant to play on U.S. television that sees former President Ronald Reagan point out how he, like most people, thought pedophilia was bad. The ad, a follow-up to last month’s infamous piece that sampled a speech in which Reagan advanced […]

The post Doug Ford to produce ad where Reagan says that pedophilia is bad appeared first on The Beaverton.

QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles was kicked out of Question Period this morning after criticizing Doug Ford and incorrectly calling him and his entire government “corrupt,” instead of “the embodiment of evil itself made flesh.” “In the Ontario Legislature, we pride ourselves on speaking the truth,” stated Speaker Donna Skelly, who was […]

The post Ontario NDP leader ejected from Question Period after incorrectly labelling Ford gov as “corrupt,” not “evil” appeared first on The Beaverton.

The post Larry Summers Announces He Will Step Down From Chair With Belt Around Neck appeared first on The Onion.

Hippie Teenagers?!?!?
No, just regular teenagers. #CowboyWho

The Houston City Council enacted a nighttime curfew for both electric and foot-powered scooters amid concerns about safety.

Overused!

The Houston-based Ramona Residency program has announced its first exhibition, opening Friday, December 5, at Throughline Collective.

The exhibition, titled Ramona: Supporting Artist Mothers, brings together works by former, current, and future “artist mothers-in-residence,” including Cassie Arnold, Megan Harrison, Beatriz Bellorin, Monika Meler, Speideh T. Dashti, Tamar Ettun, Molly Burke, Adrian Rhodes, Madison Hendry, Cristina Velasquez, and Raisa Nosova. Their work will be joined by the work of Houston-based artist mothers, including sculptor Tara Conley, Carolina Otero, and others.

Founded by Sarah Sudhoff in 2024, the nonprofit Ramona Residency claims its place as the first residency program in Texas dedicated to supporting artist mothers. Residents receive a two- to four-week term with furnished private accommodations in a two-bedroom, one-bath home that serves as living space and studio. Art materials are provided, as well as a childcare stipend.

Each residency concludes with an open studio or artist talk, inviting the Houston community to engage and learn about the artist’s creative process through free public programs. Residents are selected through an open call, with half of residency slots reserved for women of color.

The residency is named in honor of Ms. Sudhoff’s mother, whom Ms. Sudhoff has described as instrumental in providing support as she has pursued her artistic career.

The opening reception for Ramona: Supporting Artist Mothers will be held on Friday, December 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Throughline Collective, with an artist-led walkthrough on Saturday, December 6, from 2 to 3 p.m. The show will remain on view through Saturday, December 20.

Learn more about the Ramona Residency via its website.

The post Ramona Residency to Hold Inaugural Exhibition at Throughline Collective appeared first on Glasstire.

On November 21, 1947, a very special art exhibition opened in Paris. That night in the city’s 8th arrondissement, the Maeght Gallery was packed with art enthusiasts, journalists, dignitaries, and celebrities, including Albert Camus, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, and France’s Madame President Michelle Auriol. In the middle of it all, dressed in an exquisite white silk gown and headscarf, was a 15-year-old Algerian girl simply known as Baya. The postwar Parisian art scene was thrilled by her vivid paintings and sculptures, which the Surrealist writer André Breton said were full of “freshness of inspiration” and “conceptual daring.” But the public was also fascinated by the artist herself. Baya became an overnight sensation, appearing in newsreels, newspapers, and in the pages of Elle and Vogue. Nearly 80 years later, the artist is practically unknown. What happened?

Alice Kaplan’s book Seeing Baya: Portrait of an Algerian Artist in Paris excavates the artist’s life and work. The task is a complicated one: Baya Mahieddine’s story is just one of many such erasures of talented women from Western art history. Kaplan is frank about the challenging gaps in the historic record, and about her own fraught position as, in her words, “a Midwestern Jewish-American woman” portraying a Kabyle-Arab Algerian woman. “Am I credible as a biographer? Am I appropriating her story?” Kaplan asks in the book’s first chapter. All biography is inevitably imperfect, separated as it must be by time, space, and the particulars of the author’s own lens. But Seeing Baya gives readers a rare and valuable window into this exceptional artist’s world.

Baya was born in 1931 on the outskirts of present day Bab Ezzour, Algeria. Orphaned as a child, she was 10 years old and working at a flower farm when she met Marguerite Caminat, a French artist who’d fled Europe during World War II. Caminat recognized Baya’s artistic talent, and became the girl’s guardian and employer. At Caminat’s apartment in Algiers, Baya worked on domestic labor like cooking and cleaning, and made unique paintings and terracotta sculptures. Kaplan examines this caring but complex relationship at length, foregrounding the fraught colonial dynamics between and around the two women.

The French gallerist Aimé Maught saw Baya’s brilliant work on a trip to Algiers and, with Caminat’s enthusiastic involvement, invited her to do a solo exhibition. It was a pivotal moment for the artist and, Kaplan argues, for her embattled nation. Algeria had been under French colonial rule since 1830, and by 1947 political tensions and violence were escalating. Baya was more than just an artist, she was an ambassador for her country’s legitimacy and liberation. As such, she was under intense pressure to represent a certain kind of Muslim womanhood and even a sense of budding national identity. Great care was taken to send her to Paris with “the most authentic, most beautiful handmade garments from the best artisans in Algiers,” Kaplan writes, and she was closely monitored and scrutinized in both France and back home.

Paris writers, filmmakers, and photographers were dazzled by Baya’s unique artworks and “exotic” dress, but some members of the press took things too far. Irresponsible journalists sensationalized or outright invented aspects of the artist’s story, falsely claiming that Baya’s grandmother was a witch or that the artist herself was illiterate, among other insults. For too many in the French press, Baya became “a moving, breathing folk tale,” Kaplan says. 

These willful distortions fed into sexist and xenophobic attitudes related to France’s position of power over its colonies, but they also reproduced a pattern. Kaplan aptly points to parallels with Frida Kahlo, whose 1939 exhibition at Galerie Renou et Colle in Paris caused similar waves of curiosity and criticism in the press. (See Marc Petitjean’s book The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris for more about the Mexican artist’s time in France.) Kahlo’s colorful, traditional dress also appeared in the pages of Vogue. Like Baya, her physical appearance and personality was interrogated just as much if not more than her artwork.

Sadly, Baya’s artistic triumph in Paris didn’t continue. Though she returned to Europe a couple of times and notably made clay works with Picasso in Southern France, she was never featured in another Maeght exhibition. Baya married and had a large family before returning to painting later in life, though we learn little of this phase in Kaplan’s book. Still, Seeing Baya is a compelling study of this under-recognized artist’s singular beginnings. Hopefully it inspires more scholarship on the artist, and more fans of her work.

 

Seeing Baya: Portrait of an Algerian Artist in Paris by Alice Kaplan was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2024.

The post Book Review: “Seeing Baya: Portrait of an Algerian Artist in Paris” appeared first on Glasstire.

In a court system with a backlog of about 3.8 million asylum cases, families have been torn apart and lives upended. Due process seemingly is an afterthought.

A reader writes:

We recently had an interview with a candidate who seemed very promising on paper. She had years of relevant experience and good recommendations from previous employers. Our team is remote, so this was a Teams interview and we expect everyone to be on camera.

During the first few minutes, she claimed to have technical difficulties and couldn’t get her camera working. After a few minutes of trying, we decided to move forward with the interview anyway and it very quickly became apparent that the candidate was using AI to answer our questions.

Her answers restated the question, they were filled with buzzwords but had no substance whatsoever, and her speaking cadence was exactly like someone reading from a script. We tried to ask her questions such as, “How did you feel about that?” and “Do you have any questions for us?” but even her answers to those questions were AI.

We went through the motions, sped through the interview in about 15 minutes, and let the recruiting company know afterwards.

Now I’m just wondering if we should have said or done something in the moment. She no longer had a chance at the position as soon as she read off her first answer, so should we have just stopped the interview then? This was a frankly bizarre experience and I didn’t know how to react. Given the prevalence of AI though, I want to be prepared for the next time this happens.

I’m a fan of calling it out right in the moment — not just with AI, but with anything that’s off, the same as if someone were clearly reading off a written script they’d prepared or, I don’t know, seemed to be getting answers through an earpiece.

So when you first started realizing what was happening, one option was to say: “It sounds like you may be looking up answers and reading them. We’re really looking for your thoughts on these questions.”

If she course-corrected at that point, well … it’s still a pretty big strike against her and I’m skeptical someone would be able to come back from it, but it would be interesting to see how the interview went after that.

And if she kept doing it even after you called it out, it would be reasonable to say, “As I said, we’re really looking for your thoughts here, not what you’re looking up, so it doesn’t make sense to continue this interview. We’ll wrap up here, and best of luck of to you.” (And part of the advantage of the first call-out is that it makes it possible for you to do this next.)

The post what to do when a candidate is using AI during an interview appeared first on Ask a Manager.

LOS ANGELES—Alarmed after overhearing the young girl on the other side of the park fence, rapper Nicki Minaj reportedly stated “You think you’re better than me?” Wednesday while confronting a child for reciting nursery rhymes. “How many albums have you sold, huh?” asked the 42-year-old artist, who posted a short video of the child to her Instagram account with the caption “Hickory dickory flop.” “How many awards have you won? Have you ever gone platinum? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I am the queen of rap. ‘The mouse ran up the clock?’ I bet you didn’t even write that shit yourself.” At press time, reports confirmed the girl’s mother was confusedly asking Minaj why she had just referred to her daughter as “my son.”

The post ‘You Think You’re Better Than Me?’ Says Nicki Minaj Interrupting Child Reciting Nursery Rhyme   appeared first on The Onion.

As Thanksgiving approaches, Waco-area food banks and pantries are seeking the community’s help in feeding families rocked by this month’s SNAP benefits disruption. The state of Texas on Friday began releasing full SNAP benefits for those who missed their usual SNAP payments during the first two weeks of the month due to the government shutdown […]

The post The SNAP crisis is over but Waco’s food needs remain. Here’s how to help appeared first on The Waco Bridge.

Abbott fought for months to keep secret emails between his office and Elon Musk. Now, hundreds of pages have been released.

“Your parents keep such a clean and tidy house. You’d never know they have kids.”

“No thanks, I’ve seen enough YouTube. It’s a little passé at this point.”

“Why don’t we pitch in and do our dishes while we’re here to show our appreciation for your parents’ hospitality?”

“The more I learn about sex, the more I think that keeping my virginity until marriage is the most sensible option.”

“Someone set a timer so that we don’t accidentally spend an excessive amount of time playing video games.”

“I wish my mom were as talented a chef as yours. The way she defrosts these Hot Pockets is unparalleled.”

“Have you guys started the social studies project that’s due next week? Me neither. Let’s get to work on it now.”

“Sometimes I think our manners could use some work. Does anyone want to sign up for cotillion with me?”

“Your mom and dad are so stylish. I really appreciate the effort they put into their appearance by putting on their nicest sweatpants before we come over.”

“Can I check the fridge real quick for some raw vegetables to munch on?”

“Let’s keep our voices down so that we don’t disturb anyone.”

“Yeah, I know it’s a little early to start thinking about college, but I’m only planning to apply to ones that are affordable for my parents. I can’t imagine anything more ridiculous than picking a school because I’m a fan of its football team.”

“Your younger sibling is a delight. Let’s make sure they know they’re welcome to join in our camaraderie any time.”

“Have we remembered to brush our teeth?”

“Your parents are so cool and quick-witted. I guess what people say is true—it’s impossible to make fun of elder millennials.”

“Huh, I rolled a 6 and a 7 on these dice, and our game scores came out to 41, 69, and 420. What unremarkable numbers.”

“Ten o’clock already! Let’s get to bed. You know how important sleep is at our age.”