Melanie Smellanie

Her trip to Ireland was ruined by this one question?? Gee, I wonder why…

USUALLY presidents getting blame or taking credit for gas prices (or local crime rates, or etc etc) is dumb, because it’s a commodity whose price is set on a global market, USUALLY for reasons having little to do with the White House’s occupant. But this is 100% directly Trump’s fault.

I think this deserves at least as much sustained attention from US media as Claudine Gay's dissertation

I can't think of a more powerful statement on the dire state of cultural criticism than seeing a publication let Matt go. He's been one of the best for decades

Hearing a child with a lisp say “I’m sweating buckets in this sweatshirt” is one of the joys of going to the park.

The covers of three books. Left to right: Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the life of a legend, about the late Sopranos actor. The cover shows Gandolfini looking shy, peering offscreen with one unobstructed eye and another that peeks out between the fingers of his right hand. CENTER: The cover of Cinema Her Way, a coffee table book by Marya E. Gates about female directors. On the cover is actress Michelle Rodriguez as the boxer heroine of Karyn Kusama's sports drama Girlfight, about a woman boxer. RIGHT David Hockney's painting collection The Arrival of Spring in Normandy, showing a painting of a verdant field. In the background of the field is green grass. in the upper foreground are the branches of a tree sprouting white, cottony buds.

A screenshot of the pre-orders section at mzs.press. Three screenshots of books that have not yet been released. I Am The Night, Daniel Dockery's book about Batman the Brave and the Bold, has a silhouette of Batman stretching from the top to the bottom of the cover, with the title of the book and a nighttime Gotham skyline circumscribed by the borders of the Batman silhouette. CENTER The cover of The Ring Cycle, Matt Zoller Seitz and Odie Henderson's book on the Rocky and Creed films. The cover is white except for a pair of black boxing gloves floating there RIGHT The cover of Documentary Now!, the 600-page, 7-pound coffee table book celebrating the aforementioned IFC Channel series parodying classic documentaries.

Screenshot of three books carried at mzs.press arts bookstore: LEFT: Cover of Lead Sister, a biography of Karen Carpenter, featuring a closeup of Carpenter playing and singing with The Carpenters. CENTER: The cover of Anthony Hopkins' We Did OK, Kid, a memoir of his life and career. On the cover is Hopkins in closeup as he looks presently, narrowed blue eyes looking directly at the spectator. RIGHT: Cover of Louis Armstrong In His Own Words, a collection of the bandleader's correspondence. The cover image is a photograph of a probably fortysomething Armstrong seated at the wooden desk in his office where he often wrote letters.

Screenshot of the covers of 3 books carried at mzs.press Arts Bookstore. LEFT: The cover of Gotham City Cocktails, a book of mixed drink recipes inspired by Batman. Art deco-style flowing border lines flow around and around the interior of the dust jacket. At the center are drawings of two tall cocktail glasses and between them, a shot glass and a tumbler with a sword-pierced cherry in it. CENTER: The cover of Downton Abbey Afternoon Tea Cookbook. Green cover, white writing and graphics. The central image is a teapot with stem lines coming out of it, and at the pot's base, a teacup and saucer and a separate plate of biscuits. RIGHT: Bob's Burgers "The Re-Recipe Box," a set of recipe cards inspired by the joke hamburger names featured on the small board at the front of Bob's joint. Red sides with small graphics, cover image of the restaurant.

Greetings, new friends! You may know me as an author, a prolific Bluesky poster and 4th place finisher on So You Call That Dancing? But you might not know that my partner Judith (@mzpress) and I have an online arts bookstore that's growing every day. Full inventory here: mzs.press/EVERYTHING-W...

I’m wearing at least 7 perfume samples (mostly kismet Olfactive) and while none was for me, the overall effect is quite pleasant.

I just ordered the mini of this

I’m wearing my first perfume that I think is a pretty true oud and it’s so delightful and smooth: Valentino’s Notte d’Oro. This wasn’t a bland buy but it was an impetuous buy: found on Mercari after one spray in store. It’s a good one though.

A budget is a moral document.

My wife says I like The Pitt because "where else do you see competent people in positions of authority trying to help?"

Fucking monsters. This poor man.

How to win in November

Horrified by the video I just saw of a military veteran protesting the Iran war having his arm broken by Capitol police trying to remove him. Horrified.

I am back in D.C. to hear from cruel Kristi Noem on why she is complicit in the chaos happening at DHS, vote on a War Powers Resolution to rein Donald Trump in, and vote against a DHS funding bill that does nothing to address the reckless actions we’re seeing from ICE.

The work continues.

Anti-Trans Democrats Blown Out In North Carolina Primary Election Anti-trans Democrat Nasif Majeed lost to Veleria Levy, who ran on a pro-LGBTQ+ platform. Other conservative Democrats lost as well on primary day.

1. In yesterday's primary elections, anti-transgender Democrats found out the hard way why you don't throw transgender people under the bus.

Two anti-trans dems lost their primaries, including one that cast the deciding veto override vote, in blowouts.

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Fight for trans people, or lose your job to someone who will.

We can’t clean up Washington without restoring integrity to the Supreme Court.

That’s why I believe we should expand the Supreme Court to 13 justices. And then, institute term limits.

Because an appointment to the Supreme Court shouldn’t mean a lifetime lack of accountability.

The energy it takes to go from sitting to washing my face before bed could power an entire city block.

It was so fun to go! I went to their nolita location and now I want to go to the Brooklyn one

And this is me being thrilled at my purchase and the fun day I was having with two amazing sniff friends.

Notes from Parfumo: top notes: lavender, rum, saffron( heart notes: heliotrope, jasmine, vanilla; base notes: cedarwood, musk, oak wood CO2. Perfumer: Tada Archawong.

SOTD: Vanilla Mystique by Tada Parfumeur. I went to Stele for the first time yesterday and was enamored with the scent (so I got it), and the store and staff were a delight. Also was reminded that I love vanilla in so many scents.

Just to say that there are enough credible and substantiated allegations of wrongdoing by this president and administration and enough evidenced corruption that conspiracy theories are not necessary.

The perfume studio is open again! Maybe you missed it in the newsletter, but I was closed for a few weeks. I’m back and all orders are shipping out once more (TY for your patience).

While I was away, something wonderful happened — the Limited Edition full-size bottles sold out! Thank you, truly.

Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war.

That is a very cool ring

Maersk to Halt Some Red Sea Shipping in Sign of War’s Disruption to Global Supply Chain Though the conflict is centered on the Persian Gulf, shipping companies fear that the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen could resume attacks on vessels in the Red Sea hundreds of miles to the west.

Maersk, a large shipping company, said on Sunday that it was going to stop sending some of its vessels through the Red Sea, a sign that the conflict between Iran and the U.S. and Israel is reverberating through global supply chains.

How to register to vote and check your registration status For the 2026 primary elections, NPR has collected deadlines and information on how to register to vote — online, in person or by mail — in every U.S. state and territory.

For the 2026 primary elections, NPR has collected deadlines and information on how to register to vote — online, in person or by mail — in every U.S. state and territory.

Florida wants its own CIA. That could lead to unchecked domestic surveillance | Seth Stern, Lauren Harper and Bobby Block A bill to create a state intelligence operation would allow scrutiny based on ‘opinions’ – and could prompt other states to follow

“The bill’s language allows scrutiny based on ‘views’ and ‘opinions’, a standard that echoes some of the darkest chapters of American surveillance history.”

Push from Saudis, Israel helped move Trump to attack Iran President Trump launched a wide-ranging attack on Iran after weeks-long lobbying by an unusual pair of U.S. allies in the Middle East: Israel and Saudi Arabia.

"The attack came despite US intelligence assessments that Iran was unlikely to pose an immediate threat to the US mainland within the next decade."

So why do it?

"A weeks-long lobbying effort by Israel and Saudi Arabia..."

Ah. Not just weak, but cheap, too.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...