Cowboy Who?

As one of the preeminent art historians of the late Victorian era, Heinrich Wolflinn wrote several texts about the essence of artistic style across time. A pioneer of formal analysis as an art historical method, Wolflinn drew connections between an artwork’s construction, completion, and perception. As a complete object, how do we perceive a mass of accumulated components? 

Matt Kleberg, “To be titled,” 2024, carborundum relief monoprint, 42 1/2 x 33 1/4 inches

Like the Apollonian and Dionysian tendencies articulated by Fredrich Nietzsche, Wolflinn contrasts five pairs of visual tendencies to conceptualize the two prominent phases of the Italian Renaissance. Swapping the Nietzschean binary of Apollo versus Dionysus—i.e., the mastery of restraint versus the surrendering of self to excess—Wolfflin conceptually opposes the Classic (or linear) and the Baroque (or painterly). In his Principles of Art History (1915), they signify the limited and the limitless, the portrayal of individual forms against the perception of a unified form, and linear flatness versus dimensional depth. A characteristic trait of Classic objects is their distinct, recognizable building blocks. The Baroque? The analysis paralysis of its “too many didn’t count” pieces renders it an isolated sum, a math problem that, much to the chagrin of the teacher, neglects to show its work.

Blind Arcade, the Matt Kleberg show on view at Josh Pazda Hiram Butler, showcases a series of arches (arcades) grounded by, but also transcending, these dualistic qualities. In its original sense, an arcade forms a repetitious group of arches. Whereas arches isolate a single, rounded vault, an arcade implies many arches aligned within a sequence: arranged side by side as in the Roman Coliseum or in tunneled order as seen at the Alhambra Palace in Spain. Arches, as symbols represent renewal or victory: think of the new dawn commemorated by the construction of the Roman Arch of Titus, a monument to military might mirrored in the iconic Washington Square Arch in New York.

Matt Kleberg. “To be titled,” 2024, carborundum relief monoprint, 42 3/8 x 33 1/8 inches

Wolflinn’s formula serves as a useful yet limited tool. Although contrasting the rule of the one with the rule of the many clarifies the “heads versus tails” essence of Wolflinn’s theory of Western art, it negates how these qualities overlap. Despite the formal similarities binding his Blind Arcade, Kleberg visually articulates the formal purity of an arch with such subtlety, delicacy, and nuance that he questions its relationship to this Classic versus Baroque paradigm. How does he arrange these arcades pictorially and curatorially? How does he tease their implied depth on a flat canvas? How does his paint either accentuate or dissolve form? 

Regardless of color, medium, or scale, Kleberg unites Arcade as a subject through a near-uniform depiction of pictorial depth. He transforms these would-be arches into arcades by painting a single shape: a curved — and often black — line underlying the implied ceiling of these arcaded tunnels. The elegant purity of this single line transforms mere shapes into forms in the most graceful way imaginable. 

Matt Kleberg, “Fountain (Facade),” 2024, oil stick on shaped canvases, 90 x 120 inches

Kleberg’s Fountain (Façade) dominates the gallery. Constructed by two identical towers of stacked and staggered arcades, its meticulous symmetry jets upward, outward, and downward, flowing as abstracted shorthand for a fountain. This seamless arrangement crafts an unmistakable Baroque icon. For instance, imagine this piece isolated from the rest of the show. Without any prior knowledge of Kleberg or his affinity for the architectural, this would read as a complete object. But read as a façade, it recalls the background of a 1970s game show locked in time, especially given its palate of vibrant but subdued earth tones so indicative of that era. 

Installation view of “Blind Arcade”

Apart from the Fountain’s striking presence, Kleberg peppers the rest of the gallery with several variations on this multi-dimensional shape and theme. On Fountain’s opposite wall rest three smaller arcades of identical size but multifarious color. Given their relatively small size, their inclusion on such a long wall allows for ample breathing room. Such ample room in fact, that they exist as distinct objects, any closer and we might mistake them for an arcade of arcades. 

Matt Kleberg, “To be titled,” (I), 2024,
carborundum relief monoprint, 42 3/8 x 33 1/8 inches

Kleberg pairs these painted portals with a series of printed counterparts. These prints further expand — or more precisely contract—the inherently dimensional vocabulary of architecture. His To be titled prints, pose a refreshing iteration of the can’t-be-bothered disaffection occasionally underlying the term Untitled. To better identify the four pieces in his To be titled suite of prints, I’ve applied my own identifiers of “I” and “II” to reference the individual prints. Across this quintet of carborundum relief monoprints, the pigment progressively dilutes in form and color, leaving traces of its original vibrancy in the fading residue of fewer and fewer varieties, shapes, and dimensions. For instance, between To be titled I and II, the pigment progressively fades until reduced to trio of beige and gray arches. Much like the left to right fading of a Warhol silkscreen, or the sculptural suite of increasingly abstracted bronze backs by Matisse in the MFAH’s sculpture garden, Kleberg’s To be titled works progressively purify their minimal reference to three dimensionality, as they dissolve from forms to shapes. 

Matt Kleberg, “To be titled,” (II) 2024,
carborundum relief monoprint, 42 5/8 x 33 1/8 inches

The ritual of navigating an arcade — a rite of passage designed to renew the mind, body, and spirit — assumes a literal identity in modern American society. Instead of conceptualizing this passage as a metaphor for change, modern expectations of convenience envision floating through this portal on a frictionless hover board. Those who turn a blind eye to the American reflex of convenience culture, those thee-but-not-me critics disgusted by the easy way out implications of Ozempic, often testify to America’s unwavering ethos of bootstraps and elbow grease. In doing so, they fail to perceive their role within gaming such a system. As early as the 19th century, this smarter-not-harder mentality seeped into the American consciousness. Out of it emerged a nation of compound interest, casinos, fast food, and the “life altering” grift imbedded in the “for only $29.99…” television sales model. It’s a country where more than half of all Western states were founded during the intoxicating gamble of Gold Rush mania, not to mention the cadre of Southern states who built their entire economy off the backs of others. Bootstraps and elbow grease, right? 

Unlike the metaphor of navigating a standard Arcade, if we read Kleberg’s Blind version as suggestive of passing through an impenetrable, and therefore more imperceptible portal, then such a distinction moves the formerly passive needle. Perhaps then Kleberg’s Blind Arcade represents the true essence of ancient ritual, where if you transcend mind over matter, commit to the impossible, and prove your worthiness to those above, you stand a better chance of ascending those below. 

Matt Kleberg: Blind Arcade is on view through November 2, at Josh Pazda Hiram Butler.

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“GOOD GIRL ROTTED” Installation view. Photo: Ashley Whitt

As I stepped into the Janette Kennedy Gallery, I was immediately struck by the overwhelming presence of hot pink, synonymous with traditional representations of femininity. However, upon closer inspection, this familiar shade clashed against the visceral pinks of exposed intestines, organs, and bodily decay. Ashley Whitt masterfully plays with these stark contrasts throughout GOOD GIRL ROTTED, forcing the viewer to confront unsettling dualities. What does it mean when pink — closely tied to the ideals of softness and innocence — is forced upon you from childhood? How does it feel when this color, once sweet and saccharine, becomes a tool of suffocation?

Ashley Whitt is an interdisciplinary artist who explores themes of duality, psychological states, and mortality. She employs various techniques, such as digital manipulation in Photoshop, traditional darkroom, and sculptural methods. A Texas native, she currently resides in Dallas. Whitt earned her MFA in Photography from Texas Woman’s University in 2012 and her BFA in Photography from UT Arlington in 2009. She has taught photography and art and was a full-time Lecturer at Texas Christian University from 2017 to 2018. Currently, she is the Director of Visual Resources at Southern Methodist University.

“GOOD GIRL ROTTED” Installation view. Photo: Ashley Whitt

Whitt’s solo exhibition, GOOD GIRL ROTTED, is an intense exploration of femininity, body horror, and the weight of societal expectations. Drawing inspiration from horror films, alternative rock, literature, personal experiences with mental health, and the socio-political landscape of Texas in 2024, Whitt weaves a powerful and cohesive narrative that critiques the rigid definitions of what it means to be a “good girl.” Her interdisciplinary approach — blending photography, sculpture, video, and handmade books — creates a deeply immersive experience that invites viewers to confront the grotesque and beautiful in tandem.

Ashley Whitt, “I wanna be the girl with the most cake,” 2024, cardboard, spackle, acrylic paint, fake cherries, 30 x 30 x 36 inches

What happens when the “good girl” goes bad? How do gender norms enforce the idea of femininity, and what happens when those norms are subverted? How does the female body transform through trauma and decay? What is the connection between femininity and monstrosity? How does living in Texas in the post-Roe v. Wade reality affect women’s identities and bodies? CNN reporter Lauren Mascarenhas highlights the ongoing impact of Roe v. Wade’s reversal, noting, “Two years after Roe v. Wade was overturned, 14 states have enacted total or near-total bans on abortion, including Alabama, Texas, Idaho, and Tennessee… Abortion has emerged as a key issue in the 2024 election.” This political backdrop amplifies the relevance of Whitt’s work, positioning it as a reflection of the harsh realities facing women in these states, where bodily autonomy and reproductive rights are under threat.

Ashley Whitt, “Now Insides and Outsides are Matching,” 2024, photocopies, felt, thread, and straight pins, 12 x 15 inches

At the core of Whitt’s work is the concept of the “monstrous-feminine,” a theory inspired by Barbara Creed’s book The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, and Psychoanalysis. Whitt challenges traditional horror tropes by depicting women as powerful, complex beings who are feared for their potential to disrupt patriarchal control.

As I engaged with this exhibit, I found myself making connections to Jennifer’s Body (2009), directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody. Jennifer’s Body fits seamlessly into the thematic underpinnings of Whitt’s GOOD GIRL ROTTED, particularly in how it engages with ideas of the “monstrous feminine” as a source of power and fear. The film presents a feminist reimagining of horror tropes, subverting traditional depictions of female monstrosity by exploring the cultural anxieties around female sexuality, autonomy, and the body.

Ashley Whitt, “I ripped my guts out for you” (detail), 2024, accordion book made with card stock, photocopies, oil stick, and thread, 4.25 x 180 inches

One of the more poignant elements of the show is Whitt’s subversion of domesticity. The pink wallpaper in several of her sculptural bookmaking, reminiscent of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, represents suffocating femininity, a cage disguised as a home. The organs intertwined with floral patterns and dollhouses that resemble cakes become sites of protest, reclaiming spaces typically associated with female subjugation. 

Ashley Whitt, “My Body is a Haunted House,” 2024, found dollhouse, spackle, acrylic paint, satin, tulle, 32 x 30 x 24 inches

This theme of reconstruction extends beyond sewing to another deeply personal symbol of femininity: the dollhouse. Whitt explained, “The dollhouses are something I always wanted as a child but never had. During the pandemic, I was gifted this house because someone was done using it, and it got me thinking about play and childhood.” This work, titled My Body is a Haunted House, is filled with intestines, representing the trauma we carry within our bodies, a physical manifestation of life’s experiences. Inspired by The Body Keeps the Score, Whitt delves into how trauma and PTSD physically impact the body. The dollhouse, much like her sewn books, becomes a visualization of her body’s trauma, memories, and pain — inviting us to ask, “What does it look like when the body holds all these burdens?”

“GOOD GIRL ROTTED” Installation view. Photo: Ashley Whitt

GOOD GIRL ROTTED is an intensely cohesive and visually striking exhibition that forces viewers to reconcile the contradictions of femininity, control, and monstrosity. Whitt is brave, not just for her unapologetic confrontation of these taboo and harsh topics but also for her overwhelming vulnerability and empathy. Her fearless exploration of taboo subjects, including mental illness, bodily autonomy, and societal expectations, speaks directly to the current moment. By blending horror with domestic beauty with decay, Whitt crafts a potent narrative about the challenges of being a woman in Texas — and the world — in 2024.

GOOD GIRL ROTTED is on view at Janette Kennedy Gallery from October 12-27, 2024.

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Winnipeg, MB – After realizing she messed up, mother Irena Dublin is debating between saying sorry or just never talking to her adult children again. The family planned a dinner together and, when her children weren’t there, she proceeded to call them each individually to proclaim how they were ungrateful and a disappointment to their […]

The post Mom debating between saying sorry or just never talking to adult kids again appeared first on The Beaverton.

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

About a year and a half ago, I hired a person (Catelyn) with more than seven years of management experience to manage a long-standing team. I was aware that the transition had been rocky in parts, and I believe that I’ve been clear with everyone involved that Catelyn has authority to define process and policy for the team and that she has my full support. She’s very good at the regular part of her work, she prioritizes the right things, and I get positive feedback about her from our customer base.

However, the team members have begun coming to me privately to say that they feel micromanaged and even bullied by her. Some of the things I’ve heard:
– She’ll say belittling things about customers, coworkers, and even team members (her own reports!) behind their backs.
– She will have 1:1s that go on for an hour or more which are entirely her ranting at the employee about everything she doesn’t like about the team and the organization.
– She’s inconsistent in her directions and expectations with the team, giving different members different instructions on how to do the same task.

But none of this happens when I’m around! I haven’t observed any of these behaviors at all, other than early on she seemed to skew surprisingly negative on her initial impression of most coworkers across our organization, but after I showed mild surprise to her experience, that stopped. And the team says that she is different when I’m present. (My office is in another building but I drop by when I can.)

On Catelyn’s part, she says that the team doesn’t respect her, that they resist anything she proposes just because it comes from her, and that the team spends all of their time talking instead of doing work … but that none of this happens when I’m around either! When I’ve tried to gently probe regarding some of the comments that I’ve been told about, she responds with shock and that she would never say such a thing. One team member did go to HR directly and it ended in a vague place of telling Catelyn, “Well, if you did say something like this, never ever do it again.”

If what the team members tell me is true, it’s appalling behavior and I want to deal with it ASAP. I have worked closely with some of them for years and I can’t imagine that they would cook up a concerted campaign of lies. On the other hand, I’m not sure I can or should discipline someone over literal hearsay, and I don’t think Catelyn is subtle enough to be this bad around her staff without me noticing something in our interactions. How can I resolve this?

I strongly suspect the problem is Catelyn and here’s why:

– It’s unlikely that a group of people who you’ve known and worked with for years, and who (I’m assuming) you know to have good judgment and integrity, would all conspire to start lying about someone.

– Catelyn started out “surprisingly negative” about people when she talked to you but stopped when she saw your reaction. That tells you something. It’s not just the original negative takes, but also her modifications when she saw you were reacting poorly, which indicates she deliberately censors what she lets you see. (If this were the only thing that had happened, I wouldn’t put as much weight on it — but taken with everything else, it’s significant.)

– At least one of Catelyn’s complaints about the team reflects directly on her as a manager and she doesn’t seem to realize that, which is telling: her complaint about the team spending all their time talking instead of doing work. If that’s true, Catelyn’s job is to actively manage that situation, not just throw up her hands. That’s not a tough problem for a decent manager to solve, and it doesn’t sound like she’s managing that the way a skilled manager would. That doesn’t make her a liar, but it does mean she’s not a very good manager, and it’s another thing that points toward her being the problem. And her belief that the opposite is true is yet another data point not in her favor. And if it’s not true but she’s saying it anyway … well, case closed. Can you tell from the team’s output which it is?

– Catelyn doesn’t sound particularly concerned by what’s happening. A good manager whose team had these problems would be actively looking for solutions. Catelyn doesn’t sound like she’s doing that; she’s just reacting with “no, that didn’t happen” when you come to her with questions. Why isn’t she more concerned? Why isn’t she more curious about where these reports are coming from, and actively trying to improve her relationships with the people she manages?

I know you’re not seeing the problems firsthand, but it’s absolutely possible for a manager to be horrible with their staff and hide it when their own manager is around. As one example, I once worked with a director who was awful to his team for years and had them all too terrified to tell anyone about it. They worked in a different location from everyone else so it was easy to hide — and when people visited their site, he changed his behavior for the outsiders’ benefit.

Ultimately, though, you don’t need to solve this beyond a reasonable doubt. Frame it to yourself, and to Catelyn, this way: You need a manager for this team who is able to effectively manage them. A requirement of Catelyn’s job is to gain the respect of her staff and manage them in a way where they feel expectations are clear, not regularly changing, and where morale is good. No matter what’s behind it, it sounds like everyone agrees right now that that’s not happening. Lay out for Catelyn the outcomes you need to see from her as a manager — like that her team agrees they receive clear and consistent expectations, that they feel respected and treated well, and that they report receiving a level of support appropriate to their roles.

You can offer her coaching to help her achieve those things, which might include you sitting in on some of her meetings with her team and debriefing afterwards, letting her watch you run meetings with your own team and debriefing those afterwards, and coaching her through specific challenges that come up … but ultimately you need a manager who can effectively manage the team and gain their trust. If she can’t do that, she’s not the right person to lead them.

Also, act with real urgency here. You you need to see pretty quickly whether she can turn things around and be that person, because the longer this goes on, the more damage it will do to that team’s culture (something that can last even if she eventually leaves) and the more chance you’ll lose good people over it.

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One of the most reassuring thoughts I've ever had is that the day I die, there will be some young person in my family comparing it to the loss of a hamster.

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

Last week, we talked about broken systems that for some reason become sacred and cannot be changed. Here are some of my favorite stories you shared.

1. The bread bags

I worked for a publication that had a bread-bag-based content management system. They were these waxy paper bags designed to hold a loaf of bread, and each article for the issue had a bag with all of the relevant collateral. Anything you did for an article (research, drafts, fact checks, layouts), you had to print out your work and put it in the bag.

They would get passed around the office, and as we got closer and closer to deadline, people’s desks would be piled high with bread bags. In order to properly review articles, you had to take all the contents out of the bag. Things typically got more frenzied closer to deadline, so by the time we closed out the issue, everyone’s fingers were typically covered in paper cuts.

We’d keep the bags in storage buckets for three months after we went to press, just in case we needed to go back and check something, then we’d spend an absurd amount of time disassembling all of them so we could reuse the bags.

This system was in practice until the year of our Lord 2020 when the pandemic finally forced them to find a digital content management solution.

2. The calendars

When I transitioned from one enrollment management office to another on campus nine years ago, my new office had a spot outside of everyone’s office for them to place a print-out of their weekly Outlook calendar. I came from an office where our internal IT guy had made the Outlook default settings so that everyone could view the high level, but not the details, of appointments. The IT guy in the office I joined said such a setting wasn’t possible and that it was impossible to enforce everyone adjusting their settings so that we could all view each other’s calendars. So people printed their calendars every Monday morning and hung them next to their door.

Do you print a new one if you get a new meeting request during the week? What about if you end up needing to be out unexpectedly? No guidance, no rules.

I just quietly refused to do any printing. And it was never a problem. We had a new director start about two months after me and she asked, as a fellow newcomer, is there anything that surprised me coming into the office. I didn’t take a full breath before I said, “OMG WHY ARE PEOPLE PRINTING CALENDARS?”

The calendar printing lasted about another 14 months, though following my and the director’s lead, new people just never printed them out and the calendar sheets slowly started to disappear. Was there ever an office wide change to the Outlook settings? No. So each new person has to be instructed to change their Outlook settings and some don’t and it’s a PITA.

3. The work space

An organization I worked at was moving buildings. One person ran a solo unit similar to a storeroom. She had a full scale meltdown when she found out her new workroom would not be the exact shape and dimensions as her previous room. They tried to convince her it would be nice to have windows. She insisted it would not. She had been working for 20 years without windows and nothing would convince her to have windows.

They caved into her bizarre demands and carved out a weird interior space for her the exact shape and size of her previous space. She put everything where it had been in the old building: the place to stack incoming supplies, the place to stack empty boxes, her desk and calculator, every single item. We’re in an earthquake zone so there are seismic pylons in various spots, which could not be in her space because that would change the dimensions. So they put walls up in awkward places that left strange, unusable space all around it. The beautiful large windows were in a narrow corridor that heated up in two seconds when the sun was out. Seismic pylons stuck out into other people’s spaces in awkward spots. The entire floor was wonky to navigate due to this one person’s insistence on The Old Way.

And guess what? Six years later she retired. Every single wall had to be taken down and moved to a sensible place, at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars.

4. The dead language

I work in museums. Another museum in our region had a staff member who kept all their crucial records – important not just for day-to-day work, but for the continuity of the entire institution – in a dead language that they were fluent in. It was a deliberate ploy to keep from ever being replaced. They had never actually been managed before a colleague of mine became their supervisor, and when they refused to change, they were let go and the records had to be translated.

5. Fall 2008

My college’s database was created in fall 2008. How do I know this? Well, when you log on, everything from the class schedule to the student handbook to the faculty pages is set to fall 2008 by default. You have to click into a menu, open a side-bar, and scroll aaaalllll the way down to the current term to see what the school looks like now. But if you hit the “Back” or “Refresh” buttons, the page will crash and then revert back to fall 2008.

6. The typewriter

I worked at a commercial real estate company where the owner’s personal assistant refused to learn anything new. Therefore, there were some forms that never evolved to PDFs, or Word, or Excel, or anything logical. These forms were photocopied and filled in, by the personal assistant, using a typewriter.

It was like time traveling. She would take the dust cover off the typewriter, line up every space so the levers would fill in the correct spots and then take hours filling in a single form. The electric motor of the typewriter could be heard throughout the entire office.

When visitors asked what that buzzing and striking sound was, I pretended like I didn’t know. How can you close a $M deal after saying, “Oh, that’s the typewriter that we use to fill out forms!”

7. The phone box in a well

I worked for many years in a social service organization located in a state forest. It was a former camp. The phone system was a nightmare, and we often heard that people could not get through to us. Initially, I disputed this as my phone was not ringing, and there were no voicemails. But then there were times that I was unable to make calls with my phone.

It turned out that, for some insane reason, the main phone connection box was located in the well, above the water line, but why??? So whenever it rained, we lost our phones. Mind you, the rest of the organization’s branches were located in the city, so it was bizarre to explain that we were unlikely to be reachable by phone the next day due to the predicted rain. I worked there for 12 years. They used a local company that was willing to go into the state forest, and that was less expensive than other phone options. They were big on using local companies.

I was there for five years before they moved the phone apparatus out of the well and into a building. I recall having an absolute meltdown at one point and saying to the senior director, “Why are you paying money for a phone system that does not have consistent service? The agency is being ripped off!” I don’t know if that was what finally did it or not.

8. The course catalog

I worked at a private university that was notoriously stingy and resistant to change. The course catalog was in a program created by a former IT director, in a computer language he wrote. He was the only person who could edit it, and even though he was retired, he would still come in periodically and update it. There was no one else who could maintain it. Heaven forbid something happened to him, we’d be registering students with pen and paper.

We got a new dean who was horrified and immediately started researching alternatives. Once a committee selected a software, the transition took over three years. The new company sent a team to help with the transition and people dragged their feet: “It’s too complicated, what if we get hacked? What’s wrong with the old system, we’ve used it just fine for 30 years!”

I was gone by implementation day, but there was so much drama leading up to implantation and then … nothing. The new system worked! My peers went from spending a month on the course catalog to a couple of days. Students stopped calling at 7am registration day because the student portal actually worked.

The best complaint I heard was, “I can’t believe we are putting John out of a job! He’s been so loyal to the university!” John had been retired for YEARS! I hope he went on a cruise or something to celebrate.

9. The server

Way, way back in the day, I worked for a small family-owned publishing company. Computers were just becoming mainstream (no wifi – all of our desktop computers were attached to the main server via individual cables inserted in wall outlets). The server was shaky and would often go down. Only one person in the company knew what to do. When the server crashed, you had to call Jim. If Jim was in the office, that was fine. If Jim was busy or traveling, the entire company ground to a halt. For some reason, no one questioned this process. The server was mysterious, and Jim knew what to do.

Then, one day, we hired a new editor who obviously thought we were nuts. She followed Jim into the server room to try and begin to learn the mysteries of the server so that maybe, given enough time, she could fix it if needed. Turns out that all Jim was doing was disconnecting the power cord, counting to 30, and plugging it back in. Jim was called a lot less after that.

10. The Excel workbook

Several years ago, I started at a new company and was promptly informed that a certain Excel workbook could not be changed or updated, AT ALL. You see, the CFO had set up this workbook 15 years ago and she would be very upset if she decided to randomly open it and saw something had changed. I cannot emphasize enough how ridiculous it was that she would ever need to open this file – this company employed a little less than 1,000 people and there were four managers/executives in between our roles.

This workbook was used for a monthly process and had years’ worth of tabs and data in it. It was incredibly unstable and crashed constantly. I once asked if I could at least delete all of the tabs that were more than a year old. My managers had a meeting with a couple of executives to discuss the situation and what the CFO might do if she ever found out. And it was finally decided that the risk of her wrath was just too great and ABSOLUTELY NO CHANGES could be made.

11. The calendars, part 2

I work in law. My old firm had 40-ish attorneys spread across eight courtrooms. Each courtroom has a daily calendar of all cases to be heard in that department. Rather than use any kind of digital record-keeping about what happened in court, this was the required procedure:

– Every attorney prints out a paper calendar for their department each day.
– Every attorney hand writes notes for their own cases on their copy of the calendar.
– Paper calendars get turned in to the office manager at the end of the day.
– The office manager prints clean copies of the eight department calendars, then proceeds to cut up the 40+ individual calendars handed in by the lawyers, and paste their notes onto the corresponding spot on her clean copy of the calendars.
– These frankensteined calendars then get stored in boxes forever.

It was literal cut and paste, with scissors and glue, every day, for almost 50 years. This practice only stopped when the office manager retired.

12. The ticker tape

I started at a ~3,000 employee company in 2022. I was reviewing some invoices for payment and the figures didn’t make sense so I asked one of my team in a different office to send me the backup validating the information. I was expecting an email with an Excel file. No – they couriered me a hard copy package with ticker tape attached. Turns out the old manager like to review hard copy and wanted ticker tape to prove out any calculations. It took me six months to convince everyone that the world would not end and people would get paid if we used Excel and formulas.

In brief: More of the same is expected over the next few days in Houston, with cool-ish mornings and very warm afternoons, along with a good bit of sunshine. The weather pattern changes for a time next week toward humid with rain chances. Then, perhaps we can await our next front.

About 800 miles separate the two portions of Texas that have done well in the rain department this month: The mouth of the Rio Grande and the tippy top of the Panhandle. New Mexico has outperformed Texas, even with some serious flash flooding there recently.

But in general, we are far from alone right now in this dry pattern. The next couple weeks will bring us more of the same but also some potential for change, particularly next week. I think looking at the European ensemble for low temperatures the next two weeks shows how the pattern splits into 3 differing acts of weather.

Act I: The stable period through Sunday

Over the next several days, things will be pretty calm. We can expect daytime highs in the upper-80s, just a couple degrees shy of daily records. But if you want some autumn flavor, the mornings will remain fairly cool, in the 60s. These temperatures are still solidly at least 8 to 10 degrees warmer than usual. Rain chances will remain nil. We will get a weak reinforcing shot of drier air Friday that should extend this weather through at least Sunday and possibly Monday.

Act II: Revenge of humidity and rain chances

Next week sees a change. We’ll have both more unsettled weather and increasing rain chances, as well as much more humidity. Overnight lows will likely shift into the low-70s, about 10 to 15 degrees warmer than normal, while daytime highs will hold steady or even fall a few degrees due to clouds and rain chances.

I think we want to be realistic about rain chances next week. In a drought, sometimes you find ways to fail, and while I would still expect at least an inch or so of rainfall from scattered thunderstorms next week, the heavier rains, the 2 to 4 or 5 inch totals will probably be confined to a narrow corridor somewhere in the area along or northwest of highway 59. Something we will continue to watch. The European operational model shows this well below as a possible example of what could occur.

Regardless, we will see just a warm, humid, un-autumn-like week next week.

What this means for Halloween remains partially unclear. There will almost certainly be a chance of rain, but it will almost certainly also be warm. So plan for warm right now, but check back with us on the rain chances which may not become clear until early next week.

Act III: Additional autumn?

After next week’s pattern shift, we could see a return to something more typical for autumn. I would say there’s probably a 40 to 50 percent chance of a meaningful cold front around next weekend. The exact timing is uncertain, but there’s enough signal in the models for us to think there’s a decent chance. We’ll keep watching.

Our friends at 270 Reasons are gathering a polyphonic orchestra of brilliant writers, teachers, doctors, filmmakers, artists, and citizens of all kinds to weigh in about their plans to vote this November. These opinion essays run the gamut from advocacy for basic human rights to acutely personal mini-manifestoes. Read the rest over at 270 Reasons.

Because Kamala Knows That Immigrants Are America’s Strength

Kamala Harris is the proud daughter of immigrants. Like her mother, I moved to America from South Africa at nineteen with dreams of changing the world. This was a country of endless possibility. I vividly remember freezing in the National Mall with friends as Barack Obama, the son of an immigrant, was inaugurated.

Then Trump won eight years later. He told me I was an immigrant from a shithole country, and he made me feel like it, too. The 2016 election result was devastating for immigrant communities, but hope was still alive. Kamala Harris was elected to the Senate that same year. She stood up to Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. She pushed back on the Muslim ban; grilled the Homeland Security secretary over child separations and favoring white immigrants; demanded an investigation into a transgender woman who died in ICE custody; decried the weaponization of the Census Bureau and government programs like SNAP and Medicaid to scare immigrants; fought for the rights of immigrant caregivers, domestic workers, and farmworkers; and advocated for dreamers. She was our champion.

When Joe Biden chose her to be his running mate, I posted this: “The past few years have been rough in Trump’s America. As a Black immigrant, it’s been almost unbearable. As a Black woman, I needed this. I had damn near lost faith in the American dream. Kamala is a queen. I am there to help any way I can.”

As a noncitizen, I can’t vote for Kamala Harris, but I can use my voice to get out the vote. Kamala will be a president for EVERYONE who lives in this country. Trump wants to get rid of birthright citizenship, enact mass deportations, and ban immigration from countries whose citizens look like me, Kamala’s parents, and Barack’s father. Immigration is our strength, and President Kamala Harris will make sure families like mine have the chance to thrive. She is our wildest dreams.

Qondi Ntini is an African immigrant, advocate, fundraiser, and content creator who founded Thirst For Democracy to promote long-term civic engagement.

Read more essays (with new ones added every day) at 270reasons.com.

The arguments here represent the opinion of the authors and not necessarily those of the McSweeney’s Literary Arts Fund.

The article Running DOS Apps on Windows observed that in Windows 95, the default font for windowed MS-DOS sessions was 6×8, compared to 8×12 in Windows 3.1. Why did the font size change?

Technically, the font size did not change from 8×12 to 6×8. What happened is that the font size changed from 8×12 to Auto.

The Auto font size means “Choose the largest font that avoids scroll bars.” You can grab the MS-DOS window and resize it, and the font size will adjust with the size of the window.

These are MS-DOS sessions and not virtual consoles. There is no backscroll. The MS-DOS session thinks that it is talking to a video card, and it programmed the video controller into a specific text mode, say 80×25. The number of rows and columns are fixed. If you resized the window bigger, you didn’t get more rows of text. There is no text to show!

Windows 3.1 wouldn’t let you resize an MS-DOS session larger than the font size times the character size, so if you had an 80×25 MS-DOS session with an 8×12 font, you could resize the window up to (80 × 8) × (25 × 12) = 640 × 300. It wouldn’t go any bigger, and if you went smaller, you got scroll bars. If you look closely at the screen shots of MS-DOS apps running in a window on Windows 3.0, you’ll see a horizontal scroll bar.

The default size of a window in Windows 3.0 and Windows 95 is ¾ of the height and ¾ of the width of the screen. For a 640×480 screen, that comes out to 480×360, which is too narrow for an 8×12 font, but is sufficient for a 6×8 font, which requires 480×200 pixels.

Windows 95 felt that it was ugly to open an MS-DOS prompt and immediately show scroll bars, so it defaulted to auto-choosing the largest font available provided it didn’t produce scroll bars. The default font on Windows 95 therefore varies with your screen size. If you are running at 640×480, then you get 6×8. But if you are running at 1024×768 (which was more common), the default window size is 768×587, which will accommodate an 8×12 font.

Sometimes people observe that Windows 98 opened MS-DOS prompts with a larger font than Windows 95. But really what happened between Windows 95 and Windows 98 has nothing to do with default fonts. What happened is that you got a bigger monitor!

The post Did Windows 95 shrink the default font size of windowed MS-DOS apps? appeared first on The Old New Thing.

Sometime in the future, three prisoners from the Keystone MAGA Work Camp carve President Trump’s likeness into Mount Rushmore.

PROTEST VOTER: You know what I thought when I woke up this morning, facing yet another day of carving President Trump’s head into Mount Rushmore? I regret not voting for Harris in 2024.

CONSPIRACY BELIEVER: Yeah, I kind of do too. But Jill Stein just made a lot of sense to me. How were we supposed to know we’d be sent to this work camp for not supporting Trump? There was nothing about it on Reddit.

THE NON-VOTER: Well, Trump did tell us he’d punish everyone who didn’t vote for him—many times. At least, I think that’s what he slurred right before he started dancing to “November Rain” at one of his town halls. Hey, could you pass the chisel? I’m on toupee duty today.

PROTEST VOTER: I lived in California before I was banished to the Black Hills to live on this cliff ledge, so I didn’t think my vote even mattered. Imagine my surprise when the MAGA Militia knocked on my door and threw me into a Cybertruck. General Scott Baio has a real mean streak.

CONSPIRACY BELIEVER (whispers): Is it just me, or does George Washington keep looking at us like we’re the assholes? No surprise, really, since the Illuminati and the Knights Templar designed the dollar bill and—

THE NON-VOTER: I’m the type of person who needs to fall in love with a candidate to vote for them, you know? I blamed Kamala for the price of bread, even though I now know that’s the fault of greedy corporations. Plus, I felt like she was too centrist to make a difference. Too eager to build bipartisan coalitions to get things done on immigration, foreign policy, and health care.

CONSPIRACY BELIEVER: Speaking of health care, I know I fall for anything I read online, but I’m not too happy that our medical care on this rock ledge is just bleach, ivermectin, and swallowing pebbles.

PROTEST VOTER: Those vultures circling overhead aren’t a great sign either.

THE NON-VOTER: What could I have done differently, though? I mean, besides voting. Now abortion is banned in all fifty states, Dennis Prager is running our schools, Jesse Watters is the new host of 60 Minutes, and Justice Kid Rock will soon be sworn into the Supreme Court.

PROTEST VOTER: Yeah, I mean, back in ’24, I was just a well-off virtue-signalling white guy, and none of those issues were really on my radar. I guess they still aren’t now, given I’m stuck in this work camp. Oh, the irony.

CONSPIRACY BELIEVER: Talk about irony; I used to believe members of the Deep State were eating children in pizza parlors. Now, here I am, required to donate pints of my blood every week for Don Jr.’s and Kimberly Guilfoyle’s transfusions.

PROTEST VOTER: Let’s look on the bright side: At least we’re the only place in America that has gun control. Even if it’s just because too much gunfire causes rockslides.

THE NON-VOTER: True. And since that was our last election ever, we won’t be faced with making a smart decision that benefits others in the ballot box again. Thank goodness for that. It’s so hard to think of people besides ourselves.

PROTEST VOTER: Oh cool—looks like they’re almost done down there carving President Trump’s hundred-foot-long tie. Kind of weird since none of the other presidents here have ties, but I guess that’s what you get when the MyPillow Guy becomes secretary of the interior.

CONSPIRACY BELIEVER: Hey, do you think we’ll have to carve JD Vance into this mountain next?

THE NON-VOTER: Ugh. That beard and eyeliner will be a bear to chisel.

PROTEST VOTER: It could be worse. We could have been sent south to work on the border wall.

THE NON-VOTER: Yeah, despite Trump getting rid of the House and Senate, he’s still never going to get that thing built.

PROTEST VOTER: Well, something to think about when we curl up inside Trump’s nostril and go to sleep tonight. Anyway, we might as well keep chipping away at Trump’s face, just like us not voting for Harris chipped away our democra—GO AWAY, VULTURES!

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, breast reduction surgery has surged, growing 64% from 2019 to 2023. Here is what you need to know about the increasingly common elective procedure.

Q: Who is a good candidate for breast reduction surgery? 

A: Anyone whose breasts are medically designated as honkers. 

Q: Why do women choose breast reduction surgery?

A: As a personal attack on men.

Q: Can you still breastfeed after a reduction?

A: Yes, but the milk will be 2%.

Q: What should I look for in a surgeon?

A: Anyone who’s board certified and doesn’t say, “aw, what a shame” when you say you want it done.

Q: Can men get a breast reduction?

A: Plastic surgeons are more than happy to take money from anybody for any reason.

Q: How does a reduction affect nipple sensation?

A: Most things are more pleasurable when you’re no longer drowning in your own tits.

Q: How will I be able to identify the women in my life if they choose to change their breast size?

A: You can start by familiarizing yourself with their heads and faces, many of which can be just as distinctive. 

Q: What’s a well-known consequence of the surgery?

A: Losing acting roles to Sydney Sweeney. 

Q: Are people going to be weird about it?

A: The world is going to be really weird about your body whether you have surgery or not.

The post What To Know About Breast Reduction Surgery appeared first on The Onion.

SANTA FE, NM—Offering fans a tantalizing glimpse into what he’s been working on for nearly 15 years, bestselling author George R.R. Martin announced this week that he had written every “and” that would appear in his long-awaited novel The Winds Of Winter. “I know there has been much speculation about whether I’m truly committed to finishing the sixth book in the Song Of Ice And Fire series, but I’ve been hard at work perfecting the conjunctions,” said Martin, revealing that page 340 of the forthcoming volume would include 11 uses of the word “and.” “Now all that’s left to do is fill in the gaps with a plot, setting, and characters. I’m still mulling over whether an ‘and’ or ‘or’ makes more sense to connect the sentences describing how Tyrion cuts off Bran’s head in an unforeseen twist I’m planning, but I’ll probably end up just flipping a coin.” The author went on to promise fans he would finish writing every instance of “the” by early 2028.

The post George R.R. Martin Announces He’s Written Every ‘And’ That Will Appear In Next Book appeared first on The Onion.

This restored 1860s Victorian is haunted by a fanatically nudist ghost. Previous owners got sick of waking up in the middle of the night stark naked with their pajamas in a shredded pile at their feet. Don’t bother trying to get away with a towel wrapped around your waist. Ghost will destroy that too. Perfect for the right family.

Reference #344857

The post Haunted By Nudist Ghost appeared first on The Onion.

Cuba was plunged into a widespread, days-long power outage after its electrical grid repeatedly collapsed, sowing chaos as around 10 million people were left in the dark and underscoring the precarious state of the country’s infrastructure. What do you think?

“Makes me glad to live in a country where 60% of people never have to worry about that kind of thing.”

Dennis Matyas, Cardboard Corrugator

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“So the embargo is working as intended.”

Lloyd Dintelman, Granola Sweetener

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“On the plus side, it must’ve been romantic to see an entire country lit by candlelight.”

Marcella Hartwell, Meat Grader

The post Cuba Suffers Extended Blackout appeared first on The Onion.

FREDERICTON – Today officials with the New Brunswick Government notified the parents of Blaine Higgs, which they are required to do according to Policy 713, to inform them that Higgs name is being officially changed to “ex-premier Blaine Higgs”. Policy 713 forbids New Brunswick teachers from using the preferred names and pronouns of students under […]

The post New Brunswick notifies Blaine Higgs’ parents that his name changing to “ex-premier Blaine Higgs” appeared first on The Beaverton.

KANSAS CITY, MO—Quieting doubts from supporters that he wasn’t focused enough on getting a win on the board for the Aryan people, NFL place-kicker Harrison Butker insisted Tuesday that he wouldn’t let politics distract him from the upcoming race war. “I feel obligated to push back when someone audaciously suggests women shouldn’t be relegated to the role of silent breeding machines, but I’m still fully committed to ensuring the white race reigns supreme once the blood has dried,” Butker said while tightening his wife’s corset and suggesting a few finishing touches on her makeup routine to emphasize her more Caucasian features. “I know a lot of people want me to just shut up and prepare my torches for battle against the impure races, but I won’t back down from leering at sluts and chastising whores to set a good example for young men and women. Let me state one more time so there’s no confusion about where my priorities are: When the white race wins, we all win.” At press time, Butker’s wife admitted her girdle no longer fit because she was pregnant with Colin Kaepernick’s child.

The post Harrison Butker Insists He Won’t Let Politics Distract From Upcoming Race War appeared first on The Onion.

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
If we all live by metaphors, all you have to pick is the stupidest metaphor you can find.

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
Anyone taking this comic out of context will be sent a prize.

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

I’m a fairly experienced manager, but I’ve only been managing my current team for a few months.

I’ve been in a couple meetings with one of my team members that I’ve asked her to take the lead on, and she reports out at every meeting. Twice now, as she’s reporting I’ve heard her change her sentence from “we’re doing…” to “I’m doing…” But she’s not! The whole team is pitching in ideas and support, and sometimes they or I am actually doing the things she’s talking about. It seems like a really low-stakes thing, but we’ve had to have a couple of other conversations about working on a team, like making sure she’s not getting out ahead of my direction and being aware of how she talks about workload around her teammates. It’s been a lot, so I also don’t want to be focus unnecessarily on something that could really be minor. But she’s taking credit for other people’s work, and that’s not fair to them, and I don’t know if it makes her look particularly good, either. Should I bring it up or let it slide?

I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

• Can I ask my colleagues not to mime shooting themselves?
• Do we have to offer the job to the only applicant?