15 June 2026

Image inventory: a jagged wet reflection of a plane on a tarmac, collapsed and dismembered mannequins in an abandoned shop front window display, a group of pigeons on a sidewalk (half in light, half in shade), a marshmallow-looking lounge chair, two white doors loosely bolted together (one with covered-up graffiti in a block of gray), a phone booth with etched graffiti, a dog blurred and lunging towards a hand, dried yellow mimosa flowers on a nightstand (small dead explosion), a sliver of blue sky between two terracotta buildings with laundry lines, a white rectangle building floating on top of a full frame of ocean water, a dark cloud that looks like a face in profile over a small fluffy luminous cloud, a reflection of train seats, a small concrete sphere balancing on a brick ledge, two boats speeding through a canal towards a horizon, contrails shooting upwards out of two cut tree branches, a small red home and a small white bridge from above, rain drops in black water, wood grain three ways, pastel colored ceramic bowls at varying heights on a wood floor with dappled light, ivies encroaching on an upturned table, a yellow lost cat sign (name: Falco), shells organized by color (mostly whites and gray-blues) on a beach.

Is it only the UK or is the rest of Europe also displaying a short shorts trend? That and tight leggings. I guess the leggings were the hype a number of years ago and is still going strong but the rise of shorts seems to be taking over.

Everywhere I go, regardless of setting or temperature, there is a lass wearing shorts. And not just the ordinary type, but the type that ride up and through, presenting that glorious view of the lower cheeks.

I write this post with a level of hypocrisy. My girlfriend is one of these girls. Infact, I like to tell myself she's an 'OG' shorts wearer. She is always wearing her shorts, granted it's not usually the ass crack type, but the tight leggings shorts. And yes, I catch all your pervs catching a look. Whether we are outside, shopping, picking our kids up from school.. nothing can restrain the wandering eye of a straight male these days. I'm not complaining of course.. gawk all you want fellas!

However, I have to make a point whilst we're on topic, who are these parents letting their young children wear such attire. It was not long ago I turned an isle in Aldi and saw a girl, roughly 12, wearing the short shorts that rode so high her whole bottom was on display. I nudged my partner to see and we both gave a look of disbelief. It was a father shopping with his daughter. Surely, as a man, you know how this looks? How other men might perv on such a view? I'm confused about what angle the father took when he allowed his daughter to leave the house dressed like such.

Back in 2013, my elder daughter was in the improv group in her high school. The co-captain of the improv team was a girl named Ayo Edebiri.

So I’ve seen Ayo Edebiri perform live on stage many times, though, before Sunday, it was only in high school improv shows. I joked before we went to see Proof that the fact that we’d seen her in so many high school improv shows surely meant that Ayo should comp us some tickets to her broadway debut.

(I should point out that she and my daughter were friendly but not close, and I think Ms. Edebiri could probably pick my daughter out in a crowd but certainly not me or my wife.)

Anyway, so we were excited to see Proof, and I knew very little about it except that Ayo (because we’re all on a parasocial first name basis with her in our house) and Don Cheadle were in it.

There are summaries in other places, but this is a play about family and mental illness and what we owe each other. It’s got a lot of funny moments but is ultimately serious, and folks, Ayo Edibiri’s performance is absolutely stunning.

Because there are a few flashback scenes, we see what the character of Catherine was like before spending four years tending to a father with serious mental illness. And so the actor playing Catherine has to whip back and forth between hopeful and enthusiastic and beaten down and nearly broken, and Ayo pulled this off brilliantly. It really was a breathtaking performance. Awards of course don’t mean anything, and the only other show I’ve seen in New York in the last year was Bigfoot the Musical (which was utterly delightful but of course very different) but I am incredulous that she hasn’t been recognized for this performance.

Except of course by the audience, which absolutely roared at her curtain call. All the actors (Cheadle, Jin Ha, and Kara Young) gave good performances, but the play asks much more of the actor playing Catherine, and Ayo absolutely killed it.

(I’m trying to work on not being mean, but I did go to YouTube to look at Gwyneth Paltrow’s performance in the movie. And it’s…a lot of yelling. Without being too mean to Her Goopness, let me just say it’s a performance that’s not even in the same league as the one I saw on Sunday. And she presumably had multiple takes!)

The only quibble I had was with the play itself because “character seeing and talking to a dead loved one” was a hoary cliché when the play premiered in 2000, and it’s fundamentally a lie about grief because the hard thing about grief is the dead person’s sudden and complete absence from your life.

But that’s not the fault of this production, which is fantastic.

The family at the center of the story is played by Black actors, and this didn’t really have an impact on my interpretation of the story, but you know what it did affect? The composition of the audience. I don’t go to a ton of Broadway shows, but I know that the conventional “wisdom” is that people of color don’t really go to high-profile Broadway plays like this. Well, they certainly do if you cast fantastic actors of color in lead roles! I’m just sayin’!

Today we’re having an iced tea, and before you start questioning my drink choices. at least im not drinking a pissed drink and by that i mean coffee. and by we i meant me and i only. Not the fancy hot tea cup as always because im feeling like a fire flame with the weather these days. And I love it. i have nothing to talk about which is clear from the way i started this. talking about ice tea. but something about today wasn’t normal. i slept while i was showering and had that dream again. the ghost woman with her navy dress. i woke up in a bath full of my own blood, which was unpleasant to deal with, considering I don’t remember earning any injuries, but it was just her with her gun again or whatever she had this time. i dont know if she wants to leave me alive or to suffocate me slowly. and ive never ever slept while i was showering, guess that would be an interesting note to tell my therapist. havent mentioned the navy dressed woman to her would definitely have me into a new pill recipe or whatever.

I got gifted White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky. not my usual type of book, which is obvious from the fact that nobody appears to be dead. Still, i'll give it a chance. stranger things have happened to me than reading a book i wouldn't normally pick.

Sincerely, Ahmed

Any non Brits want to know what it is like living in the UK right now? You woke up a few days ago to find this guy called Andy Burnham all over every news stream. Who is this guy? Why has every-single-fucking news station started glorifying this guy? Not even my friends, family, coworkers or the guy walking his dog knows who he is.

A couple days pass and our pathetic excuse of a PM has decided to resign. You know, the guy who swore he would fight to the very end only a week or two ago? Yes.. he's quit. And now all talks are about Burnham replacing him. Excuse me, what?

Welcome to the drama show of United Kingdom politics. It is like they don't even hide it anymore.

Photos of two leading U.S. political figures are now available for download from the TechNewsLit portfolio at the Alamy photo agency, former vice-president Mike Pence, top, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. (Sort on “most recently uploaded” to quickly find the newer photos.)

Pence, who served as V.P. during Donald Trump’s first term, spoke to a full house at the National Press Club on 15 June about his conservative philosophy. He says that philosophy traces directly back to 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and the later presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Pence says he spells out that history in his new book, “What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience”, on display during his National Press Club talk. Yet he barely mentioned his key role on 6 Jan. 2021 that allowed the electoral college process to play out and certify the election of Joe Biden as president, despite Trump’s demands and audible threats from rioters storming the Capitol.

Sanders, officially an independent who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, spoke to another full house at National Press Club on 8 June. He gave his now-familiar stump speech reflecting his self-described socialist philosophy, pointing out the damage caused by growing economic inequality in the U.S. and continuing need for universal, single-payer health care.

In his talk and later Q&A, Sanders described proposed legislation to create a sovereign wealth fund with proceeds from a 50 percent stake in artificial intelligence or A.I. companies, which he justifies as payments for the companies using materials without permission copyrighted by the U.S. government, to train their algorithms. He also introduced legislation calling for a moratorium on new data centers that provide processing power for A.I., until stronger safeguards are in place.

In both the Pence and Sanders appearances, the speakers were interviewed by CBS News correspondent Robert Costa. Photos of Costa and Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman are also recently added to the TechNewsLit collection of media and business leaders.

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