Cowboy Who?

The Houston Center for Photography (HCP) has dedicated a gallery space to photographers from the Greater Houston area and is currently seeking exhibition proposals.

Founded in 1981, HCP promotes the art and practice of photography through programs and exhibitions. Earlier this year, the organization launched HOU @ HCP to support local artists. The first exhibition featured works by Charles Ford, Aimee McCrory, Austin Cullen, Jamie Ho, Barbara Levine & Paige Ramey, and HCP students. Currently, the gallery is showcasing work by Hope Mora, and this winter it will feature Nurra Yazici.

Last month, the organization opened an ongoing rolling call for exhibition proposals from HCP members. According to the submission guidelines, work will be considered as it comes in and artists will be notified at the end of the subsequent month if their work has been selected for exhibition. The focus of the gallery will be on solo shows, however, HCP will consider joint submissions in which all participating artists are located in the Greater Houston area.

HCP notes that while the gallery will be focused on Houston-based artists, the organization will still use the gallery for its annual student exhibition and to host non-local artists who will work directly with the Houston community.

Learn more about the process and submit your work via the HCP Submittable page.

The post Houston Center for Photography Dedicates Gallery to Local Photographers; Seeks Exhibition Proposals appeared first on Glasstire.

“This and That” is an occasional series of paired observations. See past “This and That” posts here. – Ed.

Today: Corny Dogs

The State Fair of Texas is now open at Fair Park in Dallas and will be through Sunday, October 20. While that signals the return of Big Tex to the Dallas skyline, it also means that an iconic food is now available: Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs.

Neil and Carl Fletcher started selling corny dogs at the 1942 State of Fair of Texas for fifteen cents. Since then, Fletcher’s has been deemed a “staple” of the fair-going experience. This year, there are seven stands located throughout the grounds to assist you with your fix.

For more information about the State Fair and to purchase tickets, please go here.

*************

The post This and That: Corny Dogs appeared first on Glasstire.

Guess If These 40 Peripheral Figures in Your Life Actively Despise You or Don’t Know You Exist

What Happy Days Character Are You? You Are Chuck

Here Is Your Bed. This Is Not a Quiz

Can You Guess Whether These 51 Tips to Feel Great Will Work?

I Am Not Genuinely Curious How Many of These Recipes You’ve Stared At

Make a Hot Dog and Use Some of That Full Loaf of Nine-Grain as a Bun, and I’ll Shake My Head At You

You’d Think That by Completing This Quiz About, Shit, I Don’t Know, Cardi B, That You Would Stimulate Yourself in Some Way

How Many of These Party Memories Can You Let Go Of?

You Will Not Reach the End of This Quiz

Whether You Choose Lying on These Couches or Seeing These Bands Live Will Tell Us What We Both Already Know

Which of These Office Supplies Is Probably Your Soulmate?

How Many of These TV Series Have You Binged While Slack-Jawed?

35 Things I Put in a List and Called a Quiz, Go Ahead and Fire Me, Because God Knows I Won’t Build Up the Energy to Quit

The Words “Quit” and “Quiz” Are One Letter Apart and Here’s a Picture of My Knee

Make Up Names for These 30 Dogs, and I’ll Tell You to Go Fuck Yourself

Do Any of These Things NOT Make You Cry? I Mean, Jesus

Which of These Better Quizzes Should You Be Taking?

In brief: Today’s post assesses the emerging drought across the Houston region, and takes a peek at the winter outlook to see whether we are likely to see relief in the coming weeks and months. We also discuss the fine weather in store for this weekend, and the rather hot conditions expected next week.

Houston enters drought

For the first time since last December, the majority of the Houston area has returned to drought conditions as measured by the US Drought Monitor. For now, most of the region has been classified as a “moderate” drought, but even with shortening days and cooler temperatures, the trend lines are not good.

It’s been a weird year. Houston has fallen into a drought even though the region remains about 10 inches above normal rainfall totals for this year. That’s because we had an exceptionally wet spring and first half of summer, punctuated by Hurricane Beryl in July. But since the beginning of August, and especially since early September, Houston has been almost bone dry. This has coincided with almost uniformly sunny days and warm-to-hot temperatures. As a result, we’ve gone from very wet soils to increasingly dry ones.

So what happens next? The next week looks to remain dry, with only very low rain chances. Maybe the pattern changes after that, but at this point there is no strong signal in the models, and persistence is the most likely outcome. Maybe we’ll see a decent shot of rain around the end of the month, but again this is really at the limit of what our best modeling can predict.

Looking deeper into fall and winter, we see a slowly developing La Niña in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Historically, this favors a drier winter across Texas. The only good thing I can say about a drought during the winter months is that it does not take all that much rain to break it—with shorter days and a lower Sun angle, a little rain goes a long ways. Unfortunately, I don’t even see a little rain in the foreseeable forecast at this time. We’ll continue to look for signs that is changing.

Friday

For my tastes at least, Thursday was one of the very nicest days of the year weather-wise. We’re now going to start warming up, but with dewpoints generally in the upper 50s the air will continue to feel comfortable. At least by Houston standards. High temperatures today will be about 80 degrees, with mostly sunny skies, and easterly winds at perhaps 10 mph with higher gusts. Lows tonight will drop into the low 60s for most locations away from the coast.

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend will see high temperatures in the lower 80s, for the most part, with sunny skies. Low temperatures should continue to drop into the lower 60s, which generally means comfortable if not cool weather. Really, we have no concerns for you if you’re planning any outdoor activities. Just be mindful of the increasing number of burn bans across the region, due to the emerging drought discussed above.

Next week

Pretty much all of next week looks warm, with highs starting out in the mid-80s and ending up in the upper 80s. Some locations probably will hit 90 degrees toward the end of next week. We’ll see a few more clouds in the sky, and rising humidity levels. Unfortunately, the last full week of October is unlikely to feel fall-like at all. The heat may extend into next weekend.

Space is cool! Album out today go stream it ya legends

Vinyl and new merch here! (vinyl will sell out quick so don't friggin @ me)
https://www.bandtshirts.com.au/shop/tom-cardy

Video By the wonderful @LankyMF

Supporters of Robert Roberson, who was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002, turned to the Texas high court, which normally does not get involved in criminal cases, after both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, earlier in the day rejected appeals to halt his lethal injection.

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

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

1. My coworker won’t answer my boss’s questions

I work for a very small department within a bigger group. I have one coworker (Jane) and a boss (Amanda), and the boss also manages about eight others who are in a bigger department. My role is small and there is not much to do for one person, let alone two. Amanda is a poor manager, but not why I am writing in.

Amanda will frequently request meetings or ask other questions to me and Jane via Teams, but Jane only ever responds with a “thumbs up” reaction, even if the question requires a response. Amanda does not acknowledge a thumbs up as a response, which I truly think is because she doesn’t understand it rather than passive aggressively ignoring it. This leaves me to have to respond for us both, which I find frustrating. We don’t share an office, so it’s not easy for me to say, “Oh, Amanda just messaged us. Could you respond for us both” or something.

Similar things will happen when we have a meeting just us three, in that it basically turns into a conversation between me and Amanda with Jane just sitting there. We have had meetings where Jane literally did not say a word. Since then, I will wait to answer a question directed to us both so Jane will speak, but she never will. I have prompted her by saying, “Jane, what do you think?” and then she will say something, but it feels weird to do that every time.

Since I am not her supervisor I don’t feel like I can address this, but I hate it! It makes me feel like I’m working with a ghost. I believe it bothers Amanda too, based on some comments she has made, but she isn’t a good enough boss to address it. Is there anything I can do? Or is this just one of those things I should try to not let bother me?

Yes, this is ultimately on Amanda. But you could say to Jane, “When Amanda sends us questions, I’m usually the one who answers — could you jump in more often so it’s not always on me?” And from there, keep nudging her: when Amanda sends you both questions, if Jane isn’t responding, message her and say, “‘I’m swamped — could you reply to Amanda?”

Also, any chance Jane’s thumbs-up means “I see this and am acknowledging it, and will respond when I am able,” but because you’re jumping in she doesn’t get the chance? It would be interesting to simply wait a few of those times and see if she ever comes back to it. And if she doesn’t, then what happens? If it means no one responds, it might force Amanda to deal with the problem, whereas now she doesn’t need to because she’s getting what she needs from you. (Think of it this way: right now you’re volunteering to do Jane’s share of the work because you’re a conscientious person. That’s allowing Amanda to avoid stepping in. If you stop doing Jane’s share of the work, it’ll be harder for Amanda to avoid.)

You could also say to Amanda at some point, “I’ve noticed that I’m generally the only one answering your questions and I’d like to split the workload more evenly with Jane, so I’m going to hang back in the hopes she’ll take more of them.” And who knows, that might start an interesting conversation with Amanda about what’s going on, or at least nudge her to manage the situation more proactively.

2. “Hey girl”

I’m a mid-career professional and am a senior executive at a large global company where I run my own department.

Over the past couple of years I’ve noticed that other women within 10 years of my age (31) in either direction will address me — and each other — very informally via email. Things like, “Hey girl,” “Hi gal,” or even “Thanks girly,” etc. I find this deeply grating. It’s not an issue of gender identity (I’m a cisgender woman and present as such); it’s just annoying and somewhat infantilizing, especially because as a relatively young woman in a senior position, I’d rather not make myself appear younger than I already do.

I understand that this is a friendly signal and a way to create intimacy over email. I’m not a psychopath, I promise: I don’t think corporate communication needs to be dry or dusty. I just despise being addressed as “girl” or “gal” in this manner, especially by people I’m not actually friends with outside of work. I’d simply prefer to be addressed by my name.

I’m struggling to find the words to respectfully convey that I’m not receptive to this form of address without seeming like I’m the absolute worst. The last thing I want to do is come across like I’m policing other people’s language, and I certainly don’t want to destroy any friendly goodwill between my colleagues and I. If these were my subordinates, I’d simply state my preference and move on (and advise them not to address others outside of their name in writing at work, particularly in a gendered way). But because these are people across all levels, external and internal to our company, from other departments, I’m not sure what the best way forward is. Any advice on navigating this?

You could say, “I have a pet peeve about ‘girly’ — just Jane, please!”

But realistically, there will probably be clients or people who are senior to you where you’d be better off just rolling with it, especially if you say that once and it continues. You’ll have to judge it relationship by relationship.

3. My office mate comments on all my phone calls

I share an office with a colleague about whom I could write any number of cringe-inducing AAM letters, but I’ll try to focus on one issue at a time. Whenever I take a phone call, whether work-related or personal, she asks or comments about what I talked about, and it’s driving me insane. Because I’m pregnant, it’s not always feasible to take my calls elsewhere and, logistically, I have to continue sharing an office with her for the foreseeable future.

The content of the call does not matter to her. She always finds something to remark on, and I hate it. It could be a work call in which I let another team know about a mistake they need to correct, and she’ll comment on how they should have seen that already. Or I could call my husband to confirm that we’re meeting for our ultrasound appointment at 10, and she’ll want to know if he goes with me to all of my appointments. I think she’s just trying to establish some kind of rapport with me, but she’s doing the exact opposite.

I’m not on the phone much (a total of about five minutes a day, at most) or discussing anything highly personal or confidential, but I hate having to explain or expand on what I was just talking about to someone who is not (and shouldn’t be) involved. For now, I’ve been trying to give her brief non-answers and put my headphones back on as quickly as possible. But do you have a script I can use to ask her to stop?

“I know we’re sitting right near each other and can overhear things, but would you mind not commenting on my phone calls, and I’ll do the same for you? It’s easier to share space if we have some illusion of privacy, I think.”

4. Hurricane might be delaying interviews

I’m in an area that was mildly affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Think high winds and flooding, but no reported deaths and minimal property damage.

I’ve recently applied to several jobs and while they’ve marked that I’ve been flagged for interview, obviously everyone is more concerned about returning to regular operations after the storm than prioritizing hiring. Is there anything I should do in this situation other than wait? If I’d already spoken to someone directly, I’d probably have sent an email wishing them well and confirming their timeline, but since I haven’t I don’t think I should (especially since flagged for interview might not mean that I’m definitely getting one).

Nah, leave it alone and assume they’ll contact you if they want to move forward at some point. I agree that if you’d already talked to someone, it would make sense to send a short email noting that you realize things might be delayed because of the hurricane but that you hope to talk whenever they’re ready to move forward. But since you haven’t had contact with anyone there yet, treat it like any other situation where you’ve applied and it’s in their court.

[Washinton Post piece]

Last week, along with a DDOS attack and exposure of patron email addresses and encrypted passwords, the Internet Archive’s website javascript was defaced, leading us to bring the site down to access and improve our security. 

The stored data of the Internet Archive is safe and we are working on resuming services safely. This new reality requires heightened attention to cyber security and we are responding. We apologize for the impact of these library services being unavailable.

The Wayback Machine, Archive-It, scanning, and national library crawls have resumed, as well as email, blog, helpdesk, and social media communications.  Our team is working around the clock across time zones to bring other services back online. In coming days more services will resume, some starting in read-only mode as full restoration will take more time. 

We’re taking a cautious, deliberate approach to rebuild and strengthen our defenses. Our priority is ensuring the Internet Archive comes online stronger and more secure.

As a library community, we are seeing other cyber attacks—for instance the British Library, Seattle Public Library, Toronto Public Library, and now Calgary Public Library. We hope these attacks are not indicative of a trend.

For the latest updates, please check this blog and our official social media accounts: X/Twitter, Bluesky and Mastodon.

Thank you for your patience and ongoing support.

VICTORIA – As the provincial election draws to a close, Conservative Party of B.C. leader John Rustad is making a last push to appeal to voters by denying everything he’s ever said that they think is crazy while affirming everything he’s ever said that they agree with. “It was a misunderstanding when I agreed with […]

The post BC Conservative leader clarifies that every batshit thing he’s ever said was a misunderstanding unless you agree with it appeared first on The Beaverton.

Halloween time means i'm here to remind you there is nothing 👻 spookier 🎃 than confronting your own poor mental hygiene. Boooh!

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

A reader writes:

There is a small family-owned butcher shop near me. They list job postings on their Facebook page, and I’ve noticed every time they post for counter staff, that they include “clean-cut” or “clean-cut appearance” in their list of requirements for applicants. I don’t believe this is specifically about food handling/sanitation requirements, since the employees currently working at the counter there do not wear hair nets or hats.

This bothers me, largely because it feels wrong to consider appearance when making hiring decisions. Also, that particular phrasing only references hair directly, but to me it has 1950’s-small-town-USA connotations a la Pleasantville and so feels to me like it would also exclude tattoos, goth style, brightly-colored hair, extra-large bodies, or anything other than fairly generic-looking white people. I know I personally would feel uncomfortable applying there with “clean-cut” included, so I suspect others would also self-select out of applying.

Which leads to my questions:
• Is it illegal (in the U.S.) to use appearance as a criteria for job candidates? I suspect not, based on the existence of the Hooters chain, but maybe it is?
• Am I overreacting or reading too much into the term “clean-cut”?
• If the job posting is problematic and/or illegal, would it be any better if the business had a well-defined dress code prohibiting facial hair, visible tattoos, non-natural hair colors, etc. and the job posting just said “must be willing to adhere to dress code once hired”?

It’s not illegal in the U.S. to require a “clean-cut appearance” as long as it’s not used in ways that discriminate based on sex, race, religion, or other protected characteristics.

For example, courts have ruled that employers can prohibit facial hair on employees as long as they make exceptions for religious practices and people with conditions that make shaving painful.

They can also legally prohibit tattoos, goth style, and other specific appearance choices (again, as long as they make exceptions for protected classes).

There are a few jurisdictions in the U.S. that prohibit appearance discrimination, but they’re the exceptions and are usually narrowly defined. For example, Michigan prohibits discrimination based on height or weight, but not other appearance-related characteristics. Santa Cruz, Calif. protects physical characteristics from “birth, accident, or disease” that are otherwise “beyond the control of the person,” including height and weight (but excluding things like dress, grooming, tattoos, and piercings).

I do think you’re probably reading more into “clean-cut” than is typically intended, at least in terms of assuming it’s code for white (but I can also see how you got there, given our history).

Because the term does allow so much room for interpretation, it would be better for any employer using it to spell out exactly what it means to them — since for all we know, they’re fine with tattoos but hate long hair on men, or it’s really just about facial hair, or any number of other possibilities.

PALM BEACH, FL—Outlining his ambitious plans for a potential second presidential term, Republican candidate Donald Trump reportedly made a pledge Thursday to use an obscure 18th-century law to marry his daughter. “We’re moving full steam ahead with ‘Operation Ivanka,’” said Trump, who credited his policy advisors with working around-the-clock for months to discover the loophole in a 1798 federal statute that would allow him to wed his eldest daughter within his first 100 days back in office. “We’re going to target and dismantle every unfair and illegal anti-incest law in the country. This is absolutely within my rights as president, and I’m confident the Supreme Court will agree. It’s going to be a beautiful ceremony on the National Mall.” At press time, critics were warning that Trump could weaponize the law to take his second daughter as a concubine.

The post Trump Pledges To Use Obscure 18th-Century Law To Marry Daughter appeared first on The Onion.

DORADO, PUERTO RICO—In response to concerns about the health effects of his popular line of drinks, YouTuber and entrepreneur Logan Paul claimed Thursday that Prime is perfectly healthy for the average 9-foot-tall, 400-pound child. “If Prime is consumed as recommended, there’s no reason that an ordinary 450-pound 8-year-old who’s nearly 10 feet tall should experience any negative effects,” said Paul, noting that one serving of the energy or sports drink varieties of Prime fell well within the daily recommended limits for the typical child who would tower over André the Giant. “To say that 200 milligrams of caffeine is too much doesn’t take into account how long that takes to get through the bloodstream of the average American child’s enormous physique. Sure, if your kid is on the small side— say, 7-feet, 300-pounds—they might want to drink Prime in a bit more moderation. But for the rest of the hulking child behemoths, there’s nothing to worry about.” At press time, several 9-foot-tall, 400-pound children had complained of extreme heart palpitations after drinking Prime.

The post Logan Paul Claims Prime Perfectly Healthy For Average 9-Foot-Tall, 400-Pound Child appeared first on The Onion.

Italy criminalized citizens going abroad to have children through surrogacy, a measure slammed by opponents as “medieval” and discriminatory to same-sex couples. What do you think?

The post Italy Bans Overseas Surrogacy appeared first on The Onion.

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a new game for Canadians to play during his testimony before the committee on foreign interference in Canada’s elections, in which people wildly guess which Conservative MP or MPs are traitors to our country and collaborating with a foreign power. “Is it the one who always sounds like […]

The post Trudeau invites Canadians to play a new game called ‘Guess That Traitor!’ appeared first on The Beaverton.

Not that you asked, but I’m in the uniquely devastating position of being unable to have kids the “usual way” (sex). My doctor gives my husband and me a less than 10 percent chance of things “working out naturally” (also, sex). (He loves air quotes.)

I’m done crying over it. You know what I’m going to do now? IVF. That’s right: in-vitro fertilization, which you oppose for some reason. Still, that won’t stop me.

I can’t wait to trample your freedom with my own personal decisions. There’s going to be so much trampling up in here, and by “here,” I mean my uterus. But also up in your rights, somehow, in a way I’m not totally clear about.

We’ll start with some tests. I will be in stirrups up to the knees as a dye is injected into my hoo-ha. It will hurt like a mother. Did I choose infertility? No. But trying to have a kid in this incredibly difficult and painful way? Damn straight.

After the egg retrieval, I’m going to have so many more ideas about how to restrict your freedom. I’ve exhaustively researched artificial reproductive technology—the only way I can conceive a child—and I will figure out how it applies to your rights. Once I have a day of bed rest and the anesthesia wears off, you’re toast.

Turns out I’m actually not done crying over it, but I can trample through my tears. Feel that? It’s my non-skid surgical sock pressing on your neck.

Sorry to interrupt your Newsmax binging, but here’s a video of my endometriosis removal surgery. Are you squeamish? This was one of the worst cases the doctor had ever treated. What’s that smoke, you ask? That’s my insides being cauterized. An ovary had adhered to my pelvic wall. Ovulating with a stuck ovary is metal as hell. That’s a pain you can pass out to, baby. (Three times, in my case.)

You might be wondering about my husband’s role in the IVF process. It’s a secret. He’s alone in the clinic’s secret room, with secret magazines and a secret vial. I think you’re actually on board with this part. His freedom does not seem to trample on your freedom. Isn’t that funny? I’m laughing all the way to the bank, where I will withdraw the thousands of dollars this uninsured procedure costs.

Injections, ultrasounds, appointments, blah blah blah. It takes a ton of time and waiting, and then eggs and sperm are together at last. Thanks, lab. Thanks, science. Voila, embryos.

Now they grow. Not sure yet if it will be three or five days later when the doctor transfers them to Ye Olde Wombe (i.e., the womb of any woman over twenty-three). The lab monitors embryo growth, so we won’t know if the procedure will happen until the morning of. Better take a sick day, just in case. What a company grifter I have become. Hope you hate it.

Full disclosure: I’ve actually trampled your rights before. We did a round of IVF last year, but it didn’t work. With no embryos left to freeze, we saved up to start again from scratch.

Why are you muttering, “Please stop, it’s none of my business”? Oh, my bad. I thought you wanted to be in my business so you could know when and how I was trampling yours.

Or maybe you don’t want to know now? Just make up your mind so I can get to work on more ways to pummel your freedom with other personal decisions about my body.

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
No other creature gives itself Latin names. We are unique!

Today's News:

Rerouting I-45 through East Downtown Houston is a complicated, controversial, and pricey proposal. 

On Nov. 1, hospitals will begin asking patients their citizenship status. But data suggests uninsured citizens, not immigrants, cost Texas hospitals more.

With Roberson’s options dwindling, a House panel used its bully pulpit to prove his case and excoriate the failures of the state’s junk science law.

The ex-president says 'nothing done wrong' on the day when his supporters breached the Congress, forcing lawmakers to flee.

Glasstire counts down the top five art events in Texas.

For last week’s picks, please go here.

1. 2024 Vignette Art Fair
Dallas Market Hall
October 17 – 19, 2024

From the Vignette Art Fair:

“After receiving more than 200 entries, Vignette Art Fair 2024 curator Dr. Vivian Li has selected 37 women artists from cities across the state to be featured in the sixth-annual Vignette Art Fair happening Oct. 17–19, 2024, at Dallas Market Hall (2200 N Stemmons Fwy, Dallas, TX 75207). The Fair is free and open to the public Friday, Oct. 18, and Saturday, Oct. 19; however, tickets are required for the VIP Benefit Preview on Thursday, Oct. 17.”

Read more about the Vignette Art Fair here.

2. Violette Bule: Una Luz: Photography Under Confinement in Venezuela
UT Visual Arts Center (Austin)
September 20 – December 7, 2024

From the Visual Arts Center:

“Violette Bule’s exhibition, Una Luz: Photography in Venezuelan Penitentiaries, will feature photographs, text, audio, and site-specific installations that draw from an archive of over 3,000 images and digital media created by inmates who participated in a series of unsanctioned photography workshops organized by Bule in Venezuelan prisons between 2010 and 2012. The exhibition will invite visitors to examine the value of creative expression in situations of extreme hardship while initiating conversations about the ethics of archival-based projects involving marginalized communities.”

3. Dining with Rolando Briseño: A 50-Year Retrospective
Centro de Artes (San Antonio)
September 5 – February 9, 2025

From Centro De Artes:

“The first retrospective devoted to Rolando Briseño and his prolific career dating back to 1966. Curated by Ruben Cordova, the exhibition will feature 75 works grouped into ten thematic sections featuring drawings, lithographs, paintings, photographs, and work in the public art space.

The unifying focus of the exhibition is food – from the literal (tablescapes and dining habits) to the metaphorical (cultural mixing and the structure of the universe).”

4. Echoes of Transformation
Mitochondria Gallery (Houston)
September 21 – October 26, 2024

From Mitochondria Gallery:

“Mitochondria Gallery, a strong supporter of artists from Africa and its diaspora, is excited to announce its forthcoming group exhibition, Echoes of Transformation, showcasing fresh paintings and sculptures by six artists from North America and Africa.

In the rich tapestry of contemporary art, Echoes of Transformation emerges as an exploration of sociocultural progression, uniting six remarkable artists. This group exhibition delves into the multifaceted themes of enlightenment, mental care, social structures, and migration, each artist offering a unique perspective through their chosen medium of expression. This exhibition features new works from Sesse Elangwe, Matthew Eguavoen, Okoye Chukwuemeka John, Samuel Nnorom, Dusabe King Christian, and Demetrius Wilson.”

5. Clayton Hurt: The Dog on the Porch
Tyler Junior College
September 30 – November 7, 2024

From Tyler Junior College:

“Clayton Hurt is a Dallas-based artist, who’s work spans many media. Known mostly for his eclectic looking animal, usually dog sculptures. Hurt’s art often rides the line between struggle and humor. He has shown his work at various DFW galleries and has been included in numerous regionally juried exhibitions. Many of his past works sit in private and a few public collections. As a 2nd generation artist Clayton grew up being surrounded by art and local DFW artists/family.”

The post Top Five: October 17, 2024 appeared first on Glasstire.

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

I once worked for an organization where, years before, an IT person had created a database in an obscure coding language. He was long gone and no one knew how to make changes to it but the CEO loved it so we weren’t allowed to replace it, despite it being central to our work.

Nearly every office seems to have at least one broken/outdated/dysfunctional object, software, or process that Cannot Be Changed, no matter how inefficient. Examples shared here in the past include a lone employee grandfathered into being allowed to use WordPerfect … a team that refused to file anything in a central location … and some absolute chaos that resulted when a new phone system changed up the speed dial.

Let’s discuss the untouchable but inane things you’ve seen at work. What was the problem, what was the reason it couldn’t be changed, and what was the impact? And if it ever did eventually get changed, what happened?

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

A reader writes:

Several past coworkers have reached out to me on LinkedIn asking about a job posting at my company. The only thing is … they don’t know that I am the hiring manager for the role, and they are under-qualified. I already know I would not hire them for the position.

I have good relationships with them from my prior jobs, and I am sure if I tell them the role is on my team they will feel they have a better chance at the position, even though that is not the case. But it is tough out there right now with the economy and I know at least one of them was recently laid off. I am worried they would take rejection personally.

How do I approach this? I don’t want to discourage them, but I also don’t want to mislead them. I’d ideally like to preserve the relationships in the process.

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:

• My employee made an anti-Semitic joke in a meeting
• Can I ask my office to stop announcing pregnancies at staff meetings?

BOSTON—Describing the behavior as an avoidance strategy used to ignore difficult subjects, local woman Sophia McKabe told reporters Thursday that her emotionally distant husband Doug seemed to prefer watching Stargate SG-1 to having an honest conversation about Stargate SG-1. “It’s like every time I try to ask Doug how he really feels about Colonel O’Neill and the rest of the SG-1 unit’s chances against the Goa’uld, he just turns away and puts on another episode,” said McKabe, who expressed dismay over her spouse’s seeming indifference toward engaging with thorny topics about the military science-fiction series, such as the origins of the Stargate device’s space-travel technology and who the mysterious beings known as the Ancients might be. “The other day I paused the show and asked him, ‘Doug, honey, do you think we’ll ever watch [spinoff series] Stargate Atlantis?’ and he just got this far-off look in his eyes. I get that this is tougher than just skipping to the next season, but sometimes I wonder if he even thinks my opinions about System Lord Apophis matter.” At press time, McKabe had reportedly sent her husband a sternly worded email asking if they might consider seeking counseling at forum.gateworld.net.

The post Emotionally Distant Husband Would Rather Watch ‘Stargate SG-1’ Than Have Honest Conversation About ‘Stargate SG-1’ appeared first on The Onion.

Trunk-or-treat events, an alternative to traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating, have increased in popularity as parents grow wary of letting their children stray. Here are tips for organizing your own community trunk-or-treat event. 

• Uproot your family from a walkable city.
• Start a rumor that a pedophile lives in your neighborhood, driving all your neighbors to boycott trick-or-treating and participate in your event out of fear.
• Consider selecting a theme, like fairytales or Subarus.
• Spend a few days in your car trunk to really get a sense of the space before choosing decorations. 
• Harangue other parents into volunteering by threatening to call child protective services if they don’t.
• Suggest non-candy alternatives if you want this weird event to get even weirder.
• Take any compliment as a sign that you should definitely, absolutely run for the U.S. Senate.
• Rope off an area for conservative Christian families to explain why they’re not participating.
• Don’t forget the candy! You did remember to bring the candy, right? Oh, Jesus Christ, are you fucking serious? It was on the goddamn counter!
• Tell your kids not to talk to strangers who don’t have nice cars.

The post Tips For Organizing A Trunk-Or-Treat appeared first on The Onion.

Due to the high volume of votes flushed down the toilet in the past elections, officials are now warning that ballots sent in via the nation’s sewage system will no longer be counted.  

The post Voters Warned Ballots Flushed Down Toilet Will No Longer Be Counted appeared first on The Onion.

The post Kamala Harris Appears On White Noise Podcast In Appeal To Sleepy Voters appeared first on The Onion.

Dear Television Executives,

It is time to make a lesbian season of Love Is Blind.

Let me be clear: It is my sincere belief that Love Is Blind—in which contestants date each other through a wall, get engaged through said wall, and only see each other once they’ve said yes—is the best reality show ever made. I hope there are one thousand seasons and that I’m watching it on my deathbed. I want the last voice I ever hear to belong to Tammy, a twenty-two-year-old sales associate / model / DJ from Kentucky on her fifth tequila soda, saying, “I just feel like I found my best friend.”

But by having people fall in love without ever seeing each other, you have appropriated lesbian culture, and it’s only fair that you give us something back. After all, if it wasn’t for lesbians, we wouldn’t even have the concept of forcing all of your friends and family to meet the new love of your life, only to break up with her a few days later.

I understand that you think the queer season of The Ultimatum has scratched this itch, but it hasn’t. The queer Ultimatum is about wife-swapping your way to happiness; it’s for people who want to be poly but are afraid to be cringe. Lesbian Love Is Blind will be for gays who worship at the altar of monogamy. Love is love, or so you’ve told us, and lesbians deserve the chance to commit the rest of their lives to someone they barely know while being filmed by a production company that’s been sued by former contestants for mistreatment. It’s called equality.

The problem, of course, with turning Love Is Blind into a show about lesbians is the way you’ve set up the gendered living quarters. See, when the contestants of your show aren’t yearning through the wall, they’re stashed away like it’s the Victorian era with other people of the same gender. This encourages competition, which drives the plot. I think we can all agree that it’s unclear if anyone would commit to anyone else if they weren’t afraid that Tammy from Kentucky would swoop in first.

But don’t worry, on lesbian Love Is Blind we can still separate people into living quarters so there are two different groups of people dating each other.

You, the simple-minded TV executives, will probably be tempted to divide our lesbian contestants into categories that feel familiar to you, like mascs and femmes, or tops and bottoms, or cat lesbians versus lesbians whose houses smell good. These dichotomies would work according to the binary rules of the Love Is Blind universe in which manly men pursue feminine women, but wouldn’t work based on what it actually means to be a gay person. We simply can’t be separated into two groups based on gender roles that are legible to you. That’s why they call us queer.

Plus, if we do tops and bottoms, we risk alienating the underrepresented yet highly vocal switch community. And according to my own field research, 75 percent of people who say they are tops secretly want nothing more than to be flat on their backs.

I understand that this complex feedback might tempt you to try to separate the contestants into three categories; tops, bottoms, and switches; or mascs, femmes, and in-betweenies. Or why not do twelve, and separate people out based on the entire zodiac?

Or you can arbitrarily divide them into two groups, A and B, and embrace the fact no matter how you slice it, the lesbians will be fucking people from their same group. After all, you’re making them wait around all day together with nothing to do but drink alcohol from golden goblets and glare at each other from different Wayfair couches. Of course they are going to scissor each other between dates with people from the other group. This would happen even if they were in groups of all femmes, all fake tops, or all people who have an ex feeding their cat during filming, so we might as well just mix it up.

Picture it: While Leslie from group A is on a date-through-a-wall with Jan from group B, Nina and Tina from group A have snuck off into the pilates area to make out. Meanwhile, a fight breaks out in B because Lauren is going to propose to Jan, but only if Megan stops being so mean to Leslie, who, as it turns out, is Lauren’s emotional support ex.

Chaos will ensue throughout the season, including when the contestants get engaged and go on a hellish group honeymoon to Dinah Shore, and even after when we make them live together and meet each other’s families. So far nothing about this will seem unusual to the families, who by now are used to relationships that move at alarming speed. What they won’t be used to is Jan and Leslie’s wedding being interrupted by Megan, who is actually in love with Leslie and was just bullying her because she didn’t know how to otherwise express her adoration for a fellow “femme/switch/Cancer,” which will be revealed with a montage of glances.

We don’t even need multiple seasons. I am imploring you for just one. After all, if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s doing the bare minimum for us and having us talk about it for the next five years.

Thank you for your time,
Gabrielle Korn

At the University of Toronto, just across the street from the football stadium, workers are putting up a 14-story building with space for classrooms and faculty offices. What’s unusual is how they’re building it — by bolting together giant beams, columns, and panels made of manufactured slabs of wood.

As each wood element is delivered by flatbed, a tall crane lifts it into place and holds it in position while workers attach it with metal connectors. In its half-finished state, the building resembles flat-pack furniture in the process of being assembled.

The tower uses a new technology called mass timber. In this kind of construction, massive, manufactured wood elements that can extend more than half the length of a football field replace steel beams and concrete. Though still relatively uncommon, it is growing in popularity and beginning to pop up in skylines around the world.

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