Monday Randutiae

A few links for your Monday…

Jon Almeda at Almeda Pottery makes the teeniest, tiniest stuff on his teeny potter’s wheel. Here’s his Instagram. Ack! So beautiful. (Thanks Alison!) ETA: Here’s a gorgeous collection of pictures at Bored Panda.

In a similar vein, Althea Crome at Bugknits knits with needles sometimes practically as thin as a human hair. Her miniature knitting galleries are so much fun to peruse. Teeny, tiny knitting art! (Again, h/t Alison! ^_^)

The theme of the 2016 Met Gala was Manus x Machina and the clothing choices were appropriate. For example, Karolina Kurkova wore a “cognitive dress” with LED lights, the colors of which changed in real-time depending on the moods of users commenting on the gala via Twitter. Here are a whole lot of pictures (collected at the Huffington Post) of people dressed up for the gala.

I really liked reading Andi Zeisler’s opinion piece in the Washington Post, “You can wear high heels and be a feminist. But please don’t write an essay about it.” I keep trying to come up with a summary to share with you, but it’s brief, and it’s its own best summary, so I encourage you to follow the link and read it.

In Rome, women are meeting to discuss female priesthood in the Catholic Church. Says panelist Jamie Manson in this NPR article, “Imagine if a church of one billion people, with this charismatic, rock star pope, suddenly said to the world, that women are equal to men. Imagine the power that would have over cultures across the world, where this patriarchal idea of women’s subservience to men is at the root of all that women suffer globally.” I, for one, can say that if the Catholic Church suddenly decided to commit to the notion that women are equal to men, I might first die of shock. And then I would be happy to be reborn into this new world.

[Triggers ahead for rape/sexual assault news.] Finally, as you may have heard, Brock Allen Turner, a 20-year-old former Stanford swimmer who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman, was recently sentenced to six months in jail because, according to the judge, Aaron Persky, a longer sentence would have had “a severe impact on him.” Gee, I wonder how long the impact on the victim will last? The woman who was assaulted by Brock Allen Turner has written an open letter to her assailant, and it’s wonderful, powerful, irrefutable, compassionate, and completely admirable. It’s also hopeful; it did not leave me feeling powerless, in case that helps any hesitant readers to decide whether and when you have the emotional fortitude to read it. You can find it here.

That’s all I’ve got for now. This week I’m plotting, packing, and getting started on the job of buying a car (!! It’s been years since I gave up my car!! But I’m moving to a place where I will benefit from having a car. Can I ever find a car I love as much as I loved my last car????). I’ll report back soon.