#Villa Louise

[orphancookie69]

10/2024: Wisconsin Family Trip!

It is funny how life happens. In one month I pass up like 4 trips and in the months after when things "calm" down I go on back to back trips in the same week! I am not sure what killed me more but I am mostly alive still! No regrets though, family reunions are great!

Monday:

We flew from SNA to PHX in the early afternoon. There was a small layover in Phoenix. The first flight was 1 hour and then the next flight was 3 hours. We flew from PHX to MSN. Both flights went great. We rented a car, a KIA SUV, and man Kia came to play-it was a solid car. It was a 2 hour drive from Madison to Bloomington. There was also a 2 hour time difference, so it was uber late when we got in. One of our family members met us in town and guided us in, which was really nice. We stayed up way too late talking but it has been a minute since I have had such a warm welcome-especially since I have not met many of these people before. (If I did meet them, its been many years and I was very young).

Tuesday:

Waking up the next day, with California being 2 hours behind Wisconsin, was fun. Family members came by that lived down the road or in the next city over. We were told that there was a bakery down in town that was good, so we walked to get some donuts. It was funny, as my family has a reputation so when we walked in-between association or small town news-people looked at us funny. It was really dark when we came in so we took a drive to see the state in daylight. Driving to St Feriole Island was so pretty. Man that is God's Country. We saw the Wisconsin River and the Mississippi River. Villa Louise is nearby so we made plans to tour that later and go to Shihata's Orchard after. Beautiful lot, great products-I can't wait for them to have an online store. We tried Apple Salsa and Jalapeno Berry Jelly. SO GOOD. We toured Villa Louise and I loved it. The house and furniture dated back to 1839. We headed back to the family house. By the time we were back, dinner was done and kids were home from school. The energy a house has when its full of people is amazing. We played some Farkle. We got a family photo, and man that was pretty cool.

Wednesday:

Everyone woke up and we had breakfast. I had a request from back home for Wisconsin Cheese, and really I don't blame them. So we went to Carr Valley Cheese in Fennimore. We hit a thrift store and a coffee shop on the way back. We came back and had dinner with everyone and did more Farkle. We had an early bed time and packed as much as we could the night before.

Thursday:

We got up really early. 2 hour drive from Bloomington to Madison. We dropped off the rental car and went through security. General rule of thumb is to get to an airport 2 hours before the flight leaves. Before we board, they make an announcement that there are some technical issues they are working on. They "fix" them and we board. The flight time gets delayed twice and then we deboard so they can fix the issue. We reboard and then take off AN HOUR LATE. So the original flight we planned to catch got changed around. When we landed we went back to California/Arizona time. Short layover. Then we flew to SNA. It took an hour to get back to my house from the airport, and another hour to get my grandmother home. Funny to think how little ground you cover in 2 hours in california vs wisconsin.

My mom works for American Airlines with her Fiance and set this up to see her mom's side of the family for her mom. We were her first flight trip she set up since she started working there. The weather was supposed to be colder but it was surprisingly warm for this time of year. Most things start to shut down for the season as winter starts to come. I generally enjoyed this trip, some trips feel more like work than relaxing for me. But family is everything and I look forward to seeing them again. Would you go to a family reunion?

[chic-a-gigot]

La Mode illustrée, no. 29, 21 juillet 1912, Paris. Les nouvelles fleurs en tissu. Louise Villas. No. 1. — Rose en ruban. (Contour de la fleur: 40 centimètres.) No. 2. — Rose en taffetas. (Contour: 13 centimètres.) No. 3. — Rose pompon. (Contour: 6 centimètres.) No. 4. — Pavot. (Contour: 27 centimètres.) Ville de Paris / Bibliothèque Forney

No. 1. — Rose en ruban.

Exécution. — Tailler une rondelle de mousseline à patron de 6 centimètres de diamètre. Se procurer du ruban de faille très souple de deux jolis tons de rose. Le plus foncé réservé pour le cœur de la fleur. Il faut 1 mètre 30 de chaque teinte sur une largeur de 6 centimètres. Froncer ensuite le bas du ruban en réduisant la longueur à 40 centimètres au plus.

Pour simuler les pétaies il suffit de "pincer" le ruban de distance en distance en fixant les plis par un point. Les premiers pétales sont formés à 10 centimètres de distance (prise à la lisière du ruban), puis on augmente progressivement jusqu'à 18 centimètres pour les plus grands pétales.

Ceci fait, on commence par coudre au centre de la rondelle l'extrémité froncée du ruban foncé, puis l'on tourne en colimaçon en cousant le ruban. La jonction des deux teintes est invisible, puisqu'elle s'opère sous un pétale. Une fois la fleur terminée on repousse intérieurement la rondelle de mousseline, afin de produire une cavité qui donne du relief à la fleur. Ajouter une tige avec feuillage artificiel.

—

Cut a round of patterned muslin 6 centimeters in diameter. Get some very flexible faille ribbon in two pretty shades of pink. The darkest reserved for the heart of the flower. It takes 1.3 meters of each shade over a width of 6 centimeters. Then gather the bottom of the ribbon, reducing the length to 40 centimeters at most.

To simulate the petals it is enough to "pinch" the ribbon from distance to distance by fixing the folds with a point. The first petals are formed 10 centimeters apart (taken from the edge of the ribbon), then gradually increase to 18 centimeters for the largest petals.

This done, we start by sewing the gathered end of the dark ribbon in the center of the washer, then we turn in a spiral by sewing the ribbon. The junction of the two shades is invisible, since it takes place under a petal. Once the flower is finished, the muslin disc is pushed back inside, in order to produce a cavity which gives relief to the flower. Add a stem with artificial foliage.

No. 2. — Rose en taffetas.

Ce genre de fleur est destiné aux garnitures de robes, employées en bouquets pour retenir les plis d'une draperie, ou rangées sur le devant des corsages en guise de boucle de ceinture.

Chaque rose se compose d'un cœur et de cinq pétales. Le cœur se fait avec un biais de tissu replié. Il a une longueur de 12 centimètres sur une largeur de 5, centimètres, ce qui donne 2 centimètres 1/2 une fois replié.

Commencer à fixer le fil à l'extrémité d'un des bords supérieurs mis en double, descendre en biais en comptant les points jusqu'au bord inférieur, remonter en formant le même nombre de points et continuer ces zigzags sur toute la longueur du biais. Tirer fortement le fil. Rouler cette petite ruche qui formera des pointes chiffonnées, la lier par le pied, et couper le surplus du tissu. Ses pétales sont des carrés de toile de soie ayant 10 centimètres de largeur pour les deux premiers, 12 centimètres pour les trois autres, cinq pétales étant nécessaires pour faire ces roses. Après les avoir taillés, on les ploie en "mouchoir" et l'on passe un fil allant d'un angle à un autre, en prononçant plus ou moins la courbe du côté de la pointe du milieu suivant le relief que l'on désire obtenir. La pointe qui reste au milieu doit être ensuite supprimée.

Tirer sur le fil sans trop serrer et arrêter solidement. Procéder de cette façon pour chaque pétale. Les monter ensuite autour du cœur en commençant par les plus petits.

Les feuilles s'obtiennent aussi avec avec un carré de tissu. On les reploie également en mouchoir. Mais ici on coupe l'étoffe de façon à former deux triangles, ce qui fait deux feuilles par carré.

Reployer ensuite le triangle. Faire une couture partant du sommet jusqu'au bas. Retourner ce cornet. Le côté pointu simule le haut de la feuille. Le bas froncé très serré forme des plis imitant les nervures. Chaque feuille se fixe ensuite sous la rose qui doit rester assez plate.

—

Each rose consists of a heart and five petals. The heart is made with a folded fabric bias. It is 12 centimeters long by 5 centimeters wide, which gives 2.5 centimeters when folded.

Begin to fasten the thread at the end of one of the upper edges doubled, go down on the bias by counting the stitches to the lower edge, go up by forming the same number of stitches and continue these zigzags over the entire length of the bias. Pull the thread strongly. Roll up this little ruffle which will form crumpled points, tie it by the foot, and cut off the excess fabric. Its petals are squares of silk canvas, 10 centimeters wide for the first two, 12 centimeters for the other three, five petals being necessary to make these roses. After having cut them, we fold them in a "handkerchief" and we pass a wire going from one angle to another, by pronouncing more or less the curve on the side of the point of the medium according to the relief which we desire. The tip that remains in the middle must then be removed.

Pull the thread without tightening too much and stop firmly. Proceed in this way for each petal. Then mount them around the heart, starting with the smallest ones.

The leaves are also obtained with a square of fabric. They are also folded into a handkerchief. But here we cut the fabric so as to form two triangles, which makes two sheets per square.

Then fold the triangle back. Sew a seam from top to bottom. Return this cone. The pointed side simulates the top of the leaf. The very tight gathered bottom forms pleats imitating the ribs. Each leaf then attaches under the rose which must remain fairly flat.

No. 3. — Roses pompon.

Destinées soit à un chapeau, soit comme bouquet de corsage.

Ces roses se font en toile de soie de deux tons avec feuillage artificiel. On procède pour les faire comme pour les précédentes, avec cette différence que les dimensions en sont très réduites. Le cœur est taillé sur une longueur de 12 centimètres sur 3 centimètres de largeur. Les zigzags sont beaucoup plus petits et on adapte ce cœur à une tige de laiton qui sert de monture à la fleur. Les pétales, au nombre de six, se cousent un à un. Les premiers carrés ont 4 centimètres 1/2 de largeur, les autres 5 centimètres 1/2. Procéder comme pour le précédent modèle, en enveloppant bien le cœur de façon à ce que la fleur ne soit pas trop épanouie. Enfiler les fils de laiton dans des tubes de caoutchouc et terminer par quelques feuillages.

—

Intended either for a hat or as a corsage.

These roses are made of two-tone silk canvas with artificial foliage. We proceed to make them as for the previous ones, with this difference that the dimensions are very small. The heart is cut over a length of 12 centimeters by 3 centimeters wide. The zigzags are much smaller and this heart is adapted to a brass rod which serves as a mount for the flower. The petals, six in number, are sewn together one by one. The first squares are 4.5 centimeters wide, the others 5.5 centimeters. Proceed as for the previous model, wrapping the heart well so that the flower does not bloom too much. Thread the brass wires into rubber tubes and finish with some foliage.

No. 4. — Pavot.

Pour faire cette jolie fleur on emploie du ruban à picots qui existe en de charmants coloris souvent ombrés, ce qui permet dans la largeur de trouver deux fleurs d'un ton différent. Il faut environ 75 centimètres de ruban sur une largeur de 12 centimètres pour faire deux fleurs, soit 6 centimètres de largeur pour chaque fleur.

Diviser en cinq parties ces 75 centimètres. Les séparer. Froncer le bas de chaque bande en partant du picot et en décrivant une courbe comme pour les roses. Abattre ensuite les pointes qui restent de chaque côté. Serrer fortement le fil et arrèter.

L'armature du cœur consiste en un bouton quelconque de 1 centimètre de diamètre ou d'une simple rondelle de carton rembourrée d'ouate, que l'on adapte à un fil de laiton. Recouvrir ensuite cette armature avec une sphère de toile de soie vert pâle en la fronçant autour de la tige.

Passer des fils noirs en les entrecroisant sur toute la surface du cœur. Adapter autour une petite ruchette ayant 1/2 centimètre de hauteur et faite comme il à été dit pour les cœurs des roses. Presser fortement les plis afin d'imiter les pistils et coudre autour du cœur. Employer du taffetas ou de la toile de soie noire, gros bleu, violet ou un ton changeant très foncé. Une fois le coin terminé, placer les pétales autour en les chevauchant l'un sur l'autre. Terminer par une branche de feuillage.

On peut tout aussi bien employer du ruban sans picots; et ces fluers, exécutées en rouge, imitent à s'y méprendre les coquelicots des champs.

—

To make this pretty flower we use spiked ribbon which exists in charming colors often shaded, which allows in the width to find two flowers of a different tone. It takes about 75 centimeters of ribbon over a width of 12 centimeters to make two flowers, or 6 centimeters in width for each flower.

Divide these 75 centimeters into five parts. Separate them. Gather the bottom of each strip starting from the picot and describing a curve as for the roses. Then cut down the remaining tips on each side. Tighten the thread strongly and stop.

The frame of the heart consists of any button 1 centimeter in diameter or a simple round piece of cardboard stuffed with wadding, which is fitted to a brass wire. Then cover this frame with a sphere of pale green silk fabric by gathering it around the stem.

Pass black threads criss-crossing them over the entire surface of the heart. Adapt around a small hive 1/2 centimeter high and made as it was said for the hearts of the roses. Firmly press the folds to imitate the pistils and sew around the heart. Use taffeta or silk black, deep blue, purple or a very dark changing tone. Once the corner is finished, place the petals around it, overlapping them one on top of the other. Finish with a branch of foliage.

You can just as well use ribbon without pins; and these flowers, executed in red, imitate field poppies unmistakably.

Louise Villas

[zn-alessia]

OTT. 24

[postcard-from-the-past]

Louise Villa and Breiner Hotel in Abbazia, modern-day Opatija, Croatia

Austrian vintage postcard

[farkledagain]

Sketch page! I actually labeled everyone. I do like both of the Nor/Taran sketches and might clean them up one day. Good faces and body language.

[frenchcurious]

Villa à Hellerup, Danemark Conçue en 1931 par Frits Schlegel (1885-1965). Photographie Marie-Louise Høstbo. - source Art Deco 1920.

[mesetacadre]

What should be done with royal palaces and the like after revolution? Obviously any extant monarchies will be abolished but I'm curious what you think should be done with the stuff they leave behind

Hi! In the vast majority of cases, as far as I'm aware, the palaces and castles of monarchs were turned into public places for cultural purposes, such as the Winter Palace becoming the Hermitage Museum, its first exposition was on the history of the October revolution, and the private rooms and such were open to the public so they could see the wealth the Tsars had accumulated. Throughout the Soviet era, the emblems of the Tsars and other objects were gradually removed and dispersed to museums throughout the country.

Unless there is a very pressing need to reuse the materials with which these properties are decorated and built, I don't see any reason to blow them up or demolish them or remove them in some way. Palaces specifically are places with a lot of room and usually well communicated, they are ideal for those cultural purposes as well as for the sake of not forgetting the absurd concentration of wealth monarchies accumulate.

In North Korea, for example, although this isn't specifically about the property of a monarchy, they opened the various resorts and villas for the recreational use by the Korean people:

Nonetheless the North Koreans have the right to feel proud of their achievements. In one respect they can claim to surpass their Chinese brothers – their well-equipped social insurance. The Japanese had more health resorts and summer villas in Korea than in China and the present Department of Labor has taken them over. The North Koreans have also a larger amount of publicly owned industry than the nearby Chinese, for Korea was highly industrialized by the Japanese.

In North Korea: First Eye-Witness Report, Anna Louise Strong, 1949

And I think this should be the attitude that has to be taken towards the more lavish properties of the old bourgeoisie/imperialists/monarchy, of putting that wealth in service of the workers whenever possible. Revolutions don't create a blank slate, we are forced to build upon what remains of what came before. And ultimately, it's the workers who should decide what to do with these vestiges of the past. If the workers of Leningrad preferred the Winter Palace to be a museum, who can criticize them? It's not like it brought the Romanovs back ;)

[world-of-wales]

─ •✧ WILLIAM'S YEAR IN REVIEW : 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 ✧• ─

𝟔 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : William was spotted at a local pub in Norfolk with his mother-in-law, Carole.. 𝟏𝟎 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : William released a personal tweet congratulating Rachel Daly oh her fabulous career with the Lionesses as she announced her retirement from the national team.

𝟏𝟐 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : William and George attended the UEFA Conference League Semi-Final between Aston Villa & Lille at Villa Park.

𝟏𝟑 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : William and Catherine released a personal tweet expressing their condolences for the Sydney terror attack.

𝟏𝟖 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : William was received by Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey (Mr. Michael More-Molyneux at Surplus to Supper. William made a donation from the Adelaide Cottage Kitchen of a crate of pasta, potatoes, and tinned soup for the charity and joined them in making deliveries to the Hanworth Centre in Feltham.

𝟏𝟗 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : He attended the Memorial Service for Major Michael Sadler at Hereford Cathedral.

𝟐𝟑 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : The Prince of Wales was appointed Great Master of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath by The King.

𝟐𝟓 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : William carried out a series of engagements in West Midlands. He visited St. Michael's Church of England High School where he was received by the Lord-Lieutenant of West Midlands (Sir John Crabtree). Afterwards, William was received by Vice Lord-Lieutenant of West Midlands (Mrs. Louise Bennett) at Woodgate Valley Urban Farm. He later opened Anchor Point and was received by Deputy Lieutenant of West Midlands (Dr. Derrick Anderson). Kensington Palace released a statement in support of United For WIldlife's India Chapter via social media.

𝟐𝟕 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : Duffryn Mawr Country House, released an unseen photo of William and Catherine from their 2023 stay with them.

𝟐𝟗 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : William and Catherine celebrated their 13th Wedding Anniversary. Kensington Palace marked the occasion by releasing a new portrait from their wedding day taken by their private photographer Millie Pilkington. 𝟑𝟎 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 : William was received by the Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham (Mrs. Susan Snowdon) at Low Carbon Materials. Afterwards, he officially opened James' Place was received by the Lord-Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear (Ms. Lucy Winskell).

[coochiequeens]

Finally I'm able share some good news

Wild festivals, exquisite fruit-bowls and unusually realistic renderings of motherhood and female friendship – not to mention a glimpse of Lady Hamilton as an enthusiastic follower of Bacchus – will go on show in Madrid on Tuesday as one of the country’s most famous galleries seeks to spike the patriarchal canon of art history with a new, and avowedly feminist, exhibition.

The show at the Thyssen-Bornemisza – called simply Maestras (Women Masters) – uses almost 100 paintings, lithographs and sculptures to show how female artists from the late 16th to the early 20th centuries won recognition in their own lifetimes, only to find their works forgotten, erased or consigned to dusty storerooms.

Organised into eight chronological sections that reflect artistic and social changes, Maestras also explores how female artists, gallerists and patrons worked together to create and celebrate art while living and working in the grip and gaze of sexist, and often misogynistic, societies.

Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, The Shoe Shop, 1911. Photograph: Elyse Allen/© Art Resource, New York Scala, Florence

Seventeenth-century works by Artemisia Gentileschi, Fede Galizia and Elisabetta Sirani give way to still lifes of fruit and flowers before the exhibition moves to portraits – including Élisabeth Louise Vigeé Le Brun’s Lady Hamilton as a Bacchante – and then to Orientalism, depictions of working women, images of maternity, sisterhood and, finally, to images of female emancipation.

Among the show’s early exhibits is one of Gentileschi’s anguished studies of Susanna and the Elders, while the later pieces include Mary Cassatt’s bleary-eyed Breakfast in Bed and Maruja Mallo’s playful Fair pictures.

“This exhibition speaks positively of that other half of art history,” said the exhibition’s curator, the art historian and critic Rocío de la Villa.

“For a long time, the feminist history of art has been beset by all the handicaps and obstacles that had been put in the path of female creators. For example, they couldn’t access the same artistic training that their male colleagues could. They generally lived in an extremely patriarchal system that denied them their rights and in which their signatures had no legal value.”

There were, however, “certain moments and certain places” in which conditions were more favourable to female artists, and the show aims to offer “a series of windows through which we can see a mutual understanding and a camaraderie between artists, gallery owners and patrons”.

It also reminds visitors that some talented women caught the eye of European royal courts, and that some had husbands who helped them in the studio – or even looked after their children – because they knew that their wives’ gifts far exceeded their own.

Mary Cassatt, Breakfast in Bed, 1897. Photograph: The Huntington Library, Art Museum

Guillermo Solana, the artistic director of the Thyssen-Bornemisza, said Maestras was another example of the museum’s continuing commitment to feminism, education and addressing the prejudices of the past.

“I’d promised myself that I wouldn’t do any mansplaining today but I can’t help it when it comes to explaining what I’ve learned from the process of doing this exhibition, because I’ve learned a lot,” he told journalists on Monday morning.

“The first thing I learned from this exhibition – and which I think the public will also learn – was so many new names; so many fantastic artists I’d had no idea about and had never heard of. Of course, we knew about Artemisia Gentileschi and Frida Kahlo or Paula Modersohn-Becker, but how many important artists have got away – or been taken from us?”

Frida Kahlo, Portrait of Lucha María, A Girl from Tehuacán, 1942. Photograph: akg-images/© Rafael Doniz @ 2023 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, México, D.F./VEGAP

De la Villa agreed. “The public is going to ask, ‘How can it be that we didn’t know about these female artists?’” she said.

“How is it that their works were in storerooms until recently? Maestras is a feminist exhibition that seeks to emphatically correct the prejudices that have come about as a result of the patriarchy – prejudices that have meant that works by female artists have remained in museum storerooms during the 20th century.”

She said the male-dominated artistic system had always sought to defend itself by denigrating female artists. Equally damaging, she added, was how historians had played down the achievements of women until their voices were silenced and their creations overlooked and then hidden from view.

“When women are hidden, or robbed of their past, they are robbed of their identity,” said De la Villa. “The power of culture is very important. It just can’t be separated from the social conditions we enjoy, or which we suffer.”

 Maestras is at the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum from 31 October to 4 February 2024

[eskiix]

Roberto/OC Enemies-to-Lovers, Post-Villa

Chapter 6

Read on Ao3

Summary: Louise cares too much about everything, and the only thing Roberto cares about is his career. Neither is strictly true, but that's how everyone sees them. Including each other. —-- Just when Louise thinks everyone’s moving on and leaving her behind, she’s handed the golden opportunity to fix everything by planning her best friend’s hen do. At least, that’s the idea, anyway. One week of sun, sea, cocktails, clubbing, and… the world’s most arrogant pilot.

[mariacallous]

“Greetings, Lovers, Legends, and Gods of Desire!” read the Partiful invite for the pre-Valentine’s Day gathering. “Eros, the god of love, drives us all with his mischievous arrows. On this night, we will surrender to his playful whims.” Then, sternly and in all caps: “YOU MUST BE PRE-APPROVED TO GET IN.”

A couple of days later, a text blast came in; the planners of this in-person dating meetup for singles were budgeting for 200 attendees, but more than 1,000 people applied, so there'd be a venue change. RSVPs closed at 3 pm sharp the day of the event. Then, at night, Barbarossa Lounge in San Francisco’s Financial District welcomed the lucky guests who managed to get their names on the list. The event, Love in the Stars, was hosted by local event promoter Spice King and the online platform Paloma, which describes itself as a dating-oriented members club.

Per the invitation’s instructions, attendees dressed to signal their status; the singles wore a dash of red to make themselves identifiable as the ones looking for love. Their non-single supporters wore a splash of white or gold to signal they were already spoken for. Within an hour, there was no room to move. Small talk and awkward flirting filled every inch of the dark bar, with the question “So, do you like working in tech?” bouncing around at the same tempo as the clubby beats.

Welcome to Silicon Valley’s in-person dating scene. These regular events are only accessible to those already in the know. They feature pre-vetted guest lists; invite-only gatherings at villas in Hillsborough, one of the wealthiest towns in California; WhatsApp groups that gather monthly in apartments around town; and private parties with secret locations promising Stanford alumni and “creatives” in attendance. In an area that’s notoriously tough on daters, at a time when dating app fatigue is at an all-time high, the appetite for ways to find love face-to-face is growing into a frenzy.

“We have all collectively realized that dating apps are the worst,” says Allie Hoffman, the founder of the two-year-old organization The Feels, a nationwide in-person dating event series with a strong presence in San Francisco. “There is no intention around how depleting, bot-y, ghosty, breadcrumb-y, gaslight-y and fishy they are. Nobody’s feeling seen or nourished.”

In October 2024, The Feels had hosted an exclusive event at the city’s new spa, Alchemy Springs, and another one is planned for the last week in March at The Center, a yoga and sound bath space.

“Swiping culture doesn't really work for our generation anymore,” says Spice King, a local event organizer and well-connected private investor who asked to be identified only by his internet handle to protect his career. “Online dating also tends to make you kind of miss a lot of the important things when you are actually searching for a partner.”

While the local market might be flooded with run-of-the-mill ticketed speed-dating events, the trendy gatherings of the moment—like the one hosted by Spice King and Paloma back in February—offer a buffer of curation and certainty.

“A lot of my events are referrals only,” says Spice King. “Every single time somebody comes in, we ask for their LinkedIn, and oftentimes for their ‘sponsor,’ the person who invited them. Then we cross-reference and basically check their network.”

Love Club, which was launched a year ago by Louise Ireland, cofounder of the cybersecurity platform Metabase Q, started as an invite-only WhatsApp group, which now has close to 120 members. The Club holds quarterly meetings at private residences around San Francisco, in which attendees discuss matters of the heart over snacks and drinks. The atmosphere is welcoming, and the chat group is active, with members frequently sharing links to other referral-based singles events.

Ironically, the interest in in-person dating events has been rising so swiftly in the Bay Area that even new dating apps and matchmaking platforms have turned to them. The new video-based dating platform Sable Dating threw an in-person, champagne-fueled event at a location that was only disclosed to attendees upon registration. Paloma occasionally hosts events for its members and for nonmembers to increase exposure, including a Date Week festival.

“The Bay Area doesn’t have as many social clubs as LA or NY, so people really crave connection,” says Paloma’s founder and CEO Luba Yudashina.

Look closer and you’ll find many more reasons why these types of events have been thriving in Silicon Valley in particular. According to Spice King, who has hosted events for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, events with Harvard graduates, and events for people working in blockchain tech or AI, the critical component is a sense of security; “When you go on Tinder, you're at the mercy of some randomness,” he says. “People want to feel the safety and comfort of a community. Tech tends to move like that too.”

Hoffman seconds this. “We see a really strong value placed on word of mouth, especially among men,” she says. “And we do get asked a lot if we vet or screen.” The Feels does not screen potential attendees, Hoffman says, but the somewhat steep price of $100 per ticket makes sure that attendees are “thoughtful about their dating life.” In other words, and as a unifying factor of these events, the vetting isn’t just about the person’s appearance or their social media presence. It’s also meant to weed out people with problematic reputations, or less than serious intentions—as Hoffman calls it, “folks in their ‘fuck around and find out’ phase.”

Anna Naidis, a San Francisco single in tech—she’s the cofounder of Aparti AI—has tried numerous in-person dating events in the Bay Area. As someone who has gone through many networking and pitching events for her startup, she sees why the tech scene is already primed for the in-person dating boom; small talk and ice-breakers come naturally to her. “It’s a transferable skill," she jokes.

Hoffman has noticed that too. “In other places, we’ve seen people be really anxious about showing up with openness,” she says. “We haven’t had issues in the Bay.” Compared to raising a $1 million round for your startup, seeking love IRL isn’t nearly as intimidating.

[voyaging-too]

April Books and Such

Recs bolded, but it's almost all bolded, it's been a good month.

Books

Simone de Beauvoir: Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter. I mostly read this memoir because I’ve heard it was one of the distant inspirations for Lili Kemény autobiographical novel, and it was! A wonderfully drawn picture of childhood, adolescence and early adulthood in the interwar era when the whole world is changing, but the old version of conservative catholic France is still holding strong. And it’s also a story about loving and well-meaning parents whose values are wholly and catastrophically incompatible with the values of their children. (Also I laughed my ass off when Beauvoir spent pages and pages on how upset her teenage self was at Louise May Alcott for breaking up her OTP.)

A Chaotic Cataloging. A Hieron Zine. A breathtakingly gorgeous art book commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Seasons of Hieron arc of the actual play podcast Friends at the Table. A hundred pages of mostly very, very good fantasy art. Plus they raised a fair bit of money for PCRF.

Arkady Martine: Labattu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within. (free to read online) Very loose retelling of a Sumerian myth as a sci-fi short story. This vision of the goddess Inanna as a sexy bloodthirsty spaceship captain is based on the vibes and language of old historical hymns, and works surprisingly well. Plus my favourite parts of the Teixcalaan series were the switches in perspective, the brief quotations from archives or news broadcasts etc, and this story has all of that, the story told straightforwardly, the story told by a reverent yet crass narrator, the story told through fragments of hymns and paperwork and surveillance footage.

Arkady Martine: Rose/House. A near-future sci-fi noir haunted house mystery novella that raises more questions than it answers. Gorgeously unsettling, a purposeful homage to Jackson’s Hill House and Gibson’s Villa Straylight, it takes what those houses said about memory and wealth and secrecy and style and architecture, and gives it a weird new 22nd century Mojave Desert twist. If you’re looking for a proper murder mystery, you’re probably going to be dissatisfied, because this story has too much built-in vagueness and ambivalence, but if you’re looking for an evocative ghost story joyfully and cleverly rolling around in scifi-as-gothic, tech-as-eldritch tropes, you’ll love it.

Tove Jansson: Comet in Moominland. Had a wild attack of nostalgia for these books I barely remember from my childhood. They are definitely for little children but they are good and funny and cozy and wait a minute this one is pretty clearly about the nuclear apocalypse or at least heavy bombardment and all the moomintrolls end up hiding in a cave; despite the fact that all of them end up unharmed this is seriously fiery and I’m not making it up, the paragraph describing the comet’s impact is literally comparing it to bombs, when was this published, 1946, well. (I looked it up, it was written before nuclear bombs were common knowledge, so it’s just. Regular bombs. Still, WW2.)

Tove Jansson: The Exploits of Moominpappa. Cute, nostalgic, silly children’s book, with wonderful illustrations.

Tove Jansson: Tales from Moominvalley. A set of Moomin short stories, all of them lovely. You could look at how deep and meaningful they are and say they are AcTuAlLy FoR aDuLtS, but they are not, they are children’s stories that grapple with like, being sad and scared sometimes, and thus they remain legible well into adulthood.

Terry Pratchett: A Hat Full of Sky. (Tiffany Aching 2, Discworld 32.) This book didn’t hold up that well on rereading, but I probably shouldn’t blame it for being preachy and didactic, it’s supposed to be a YA title. The antics of the Nac Mac Feegle, the drunk and disorderly little blue fairies, was no less hilarious the second time.

Star War

Rogue One. A Star Wars Story. A visually and narratively gorgeous heist rebellion action movie that ties into Star Wars continuity while still standing on its own. Brilliant writing on the structural level, mid writing on the actual dialogue level, often but not always elevated by the actors. I cried, but probably not at the point where I was supposed to. None of the deaths of the named characters truly moved me, but the terror of those poor rank-and-file redshirts cornered by Darth Vader made me sob out loud.

Clone Wars: Season 2. A huge improvement on season one. Still a really uneven series that has to stay dumb as rocks simplistic because its primary audience is actual children, and it still flipflops between, well, a dumbass morally myopic worldview and a fairly clever critique of that same worldview. As far as I can tell this show is like a seasons-long “are we the bad guys?” moment, and whether that works varies arc-to-arc, episode-to-episode. Still, this season had some real fun moments.

Anime

Be-Papas: Revolutionary Girl Utena. Is this good? I genuinely don’t know. But did it give me infinity brainworms? Yes. Middle and high school students in a super fancy school are fighting symbolic sword duels for the hand of the Rose Bride, another middle school student. Silly weird dark mystical soap opera thingy.

Podcast

Bloody FM: Carmilla. The people who made Re: Dracula (podcast version of Daily Dracula), also did a Carmilla mini-series. It’s a fairly well-made adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella, great cast, great voice-acting, good music, professional effects, etc. It has lesbians, it has monster cats, it’s really well-made, it’s not their fault that I don’t really like the original book.

Music

Vienna Teng (live in Vienna). Vienna Teng is back on tour after a decade-long hiatus, with a few new songs and really kickass arrangements of old ones. It turns out her live performances, using clever layering and also audience participation, are a lot stronger than her studio recordings, and her studio recordings are already great. I really recommend going back and listening to her whole discography, but especially her new mini-album, We’ve Got You. I also recommend watching her live if she's anywhere near you.

PerKelt: Music Mardania. Actual medieval melodies reinterpreted with love and care and incredible energy. Some mind-boggling recorder solos. It’s like if the tavern music in fantasy TV shows and video games was actually good. I used to love this album back in the early 2010s, and I recently went to check the band out to see if their recent work was any good. And it’s “good” in the sense that it’s more polished than their old work, but to me it sounds less unique.

Wintergatan. The guy that made the marble machine and sometimes some of his friends play various weird instruments.

Detektivbyran. Lovely chime-y music box waltz instrumentals. Or to the old decrepit Homestuck fans reading this, the music in the Lullaby for the Gods video. Also the same guy who did the marble machine.

[sknydips]

          (   davika   hoorne   • cis   woman   •   she/her   )  ›   is   that   julia   supharang   maartens?   stepping   onto   the   island   is   always   a   sight,   and   theirs   is   no   exception.   the   thirty3   year   old   socialite   and   heiress   has   been   calling   villa   lumière   home   for   four   years,   effortlessly   moving   through   azure's   elite   while   ensuring   all   eyes   remain   on   them.   with   a   staggering   net   worth   of   €150M,   they've   more   than   secured   their   spot.   they're   always   seen   with   their   suzanne   kalan   gold   diamond   tennis   bracelet   and   every   time   you   hear   dandelion   by   ariana   grande   playing,   you   can   guarantee   it's   them.

armand   maartens   comes   from   a   family   where   their   surname   proceeds   them.   it's   on   avenue   louise   in   brussels   where   their   name   is   seen   most,   embroidered   in   a   beautiful   cursive   handwriting   on   emerald   green   exterior,   where   doormen   in   pressed   suits   and   white   gloves   await   incoming   personnel.   founded   in   the   1800s,   maartens   international   has   become   one   of   the   leading   names   in   luxury   goods.   on   par   with   that   of   cartier   and   tiffany,   maartens   took   the   world   by   storm   with   both   its   handcrafted   jewelry  and   watches.   the   brand   began   as   a   hole   in   the   wall   jewelry   store,   but   has   since   expanded   to   a   dominating   presence   in   over   one   hundred   and   twenty   countries   and   headquartered   in   brussels,   belgium.   unlike   its   competition,   maartens   is   still   under   family   control   even   after   over   one   hundred   years.

      to   say   armand   was   one   of   europe's   most   eligible   would   be   a   massive   understatement   —   some   of   his   closest   friends   belonged   to   royalty,   often   rubbing   elbows   with   some   of   the   world's   most   powerful   families.   his   dating   life   was   often   talked   about   in   the   media,   akin   to   that   of   prince   harry,   with   the   general   public   wondering   which   girl   he'd   sweep   off   her   feet   and   into   his   world   of   pure   opulence.   of   course,   it   comes   as   a   surprise   when   then   twenty   year   old   armand   meets   a   beautiful,   charming   woman   when   he   decides   to   celebrate   his   twenty   first   in   thailand.

      nattanicha   shinawatra,   affectionately   known   as   mild   within   her   family,   is   the   youngest   daughter   of   two   in   the   shinawatra   family.   in   thailand,   the   shinawatra   family   is   most   known   for   their   hands   in   broadcast   media.   her   great   great   grandfather   founded   kham   global   in   the   1920s,   and   originally   started   in   the   world   of   television   and   film   animation.   since   the   company's   founding,   it   has   expanded   into   producing   and   creating   some   of   thailand's   most   beloved   films   and   television   series,   while   even   producing   one   of   thailand's   most   watched   morning   news   programs.   kham   global   has   provided   a   beyond   comfortable   living   for   the   shinawatra   family,   and   it's   even   more   evident   when   mild   meets   armand   on   a   blazing   hot   summer   day.

      their   meeting   is   classic   —   two   wealthy   twenty   somethings   with   more   money   than   they   could   ever   need,   meeting   by   pure   chance   at   a   luxurious   resort.   armand   is   celebrating   his   birthday   and   mild   is   celebrating   a   friend's   recent   nuptials,   which   sparks   a   romance   that   neither   of   them   could   see   coming.   it's   in   six   months   that   they   find   themselves   engaged,   after   mild   is   able   to   transfer   her   studies   to   a   university   in   belgium.   at   first,   everyone   believes��  the   young   couple   is   moving   too   quickly,   but   they   already   made   their   decision   to   wait   two   years   before   marrying.   their   union   is   made   official   when   they   marrry   in   belgium   in   a   lavish   ceremony,   the   young   couple   celebrating   both   college   graduation   and   their   wedding   with   their   honeymoon.

      years   pass   with   armand   and   mild   staying   in   belgium   for   a   few   more   years   before   deciding   to   return   to   thailand   after   having   their   eldest   son,   title   jirayut.   it's   two   years   after   that   that   they   have   their   eldest   daughter,   julia   supharang   followed   by   twin   daughters   lily   amphorn   and   joy   apsara   born   four   years   after   julia.   finally,   they   have   their   youngest   surprise   child,   another   boy   who   is   eight   years   younger   than   julia   named   win   kanok.   their   family   is   large   but   loving,   with   armand   and   mild   doing   their   best   to   give   their   children   some   kind   of   normalcy.

      julia   supharang   is   a   name   that   has   become   synonymous   with   thailand's   social   scene,   but   in   more   ways   than   you   think.   most   wonder   why   she's   in   the   spaces   she   is   in   despite   not   fully   having   a   place   in   fashion   or   television,   but   she   was   there.   julia   has   an   affinity   for   art,   and   has   been   painting   since   she   was   seven.   all   of   the   maartens   children   have   a   stake   in   the   arts,   but   it's   julia   who   actually   makes   a   name   for   herself   in   such   a   cutthroat   world.   the   major   difference   is   that   she   uses   a   pen   name,    and   some   of   her   best   artwork   went   to   charity   as   opposed   to   being   sold   for   profit.

      when   julia   gets   married,   it   comes   as   a   surprise.   no   one,   aside   from   her   family,   knew   she   had   been   dating   someone   let   alone   that   she'd   gotten   engaged.    the   news   came   quickly   and   swiftly,   with   julia   and   her   husband   covering   vogue   magazine   with   a   full   spread   of   their   lavish   wedding.   it's   the   only   glimpse   into   julia's   personal   life   that   most   receive,   and   she   had   plans   of   keeping   it   that   way.   living   in   the   public   eye   didn't   have   to   mean   everyone   knowing   the   intimate   details   of   everything   that   happened   behind   closed   doors.   that   is,   until   only   three   years   after   getting   married,   julia   finds   herself   divorced.   she   served   the   papers   to   her   husband   and   ultimately   drops   from   her   already   limited   life   in   the   public   eye.

       julia   resurfaces   on   isle   azure,   tucked   just   off   of   the   coast   of   monaco.   it   was    once   her   favorite   vacation   spot   with   her   husband,   but   has   since   become   something   of  a   sanctuary   for   her.   she   sells   their   estate   and   opts   for   a   villa   instead,   smaller   and   more   intimate,   a   place   that  ��she   manages   to   make   her   own.   she   fills   her   home,   her   heart   with   the   material   things,   avoiding   attachment   in   ways   that   she   knows   can't   hurt   her.

HEADCANONS.

she   is   known   in   the   media   as   julia   supharang.   she   is   loosely   inspired   by   real   life   socialite   heart   evangelista   as   she   enjoys   painting   and   is   partially   known   as   being   the   employed   socialite   throughout   thailand.   you   can   often   see   her   sitting   front   row   at   fashion   week,   but   you   can   also   see   her   hosting   a   guest   spot   on   a   popular   radio   or   morning   television   program.

julia   is   a   woman   of   leisure.   she   likes   peace   and   quiet,   often   going   hours   without   speaking   because   she   likes   the   serenity   of   it   all.   she   takes   short   naps   when   tanning,   and   loves   when   her   schedule   isn't   packed.   she   can   usually   be   seen   cruising   around   the   isle   on   her   golf   cart   in   an   effort   to   make   it   to   her   pilates   class.

if   there's   one   thing   that   julia   collects,   it's   handbags.   she   has   far   too   many   of   them,   but   she   will   never   stop   herself   from   buying   a   new   one,   either.   her   most   recent   purchase   was   an   hermes   epsom   kelly   20   in   the   shade   vert   fizz.

her   home   is   warm   and   comfortable,   with   her   home   leaning   into   both   mid   century   modern   and   bohemian   interior   styles.   blankets   are   draped   over   couches,   plants   are   placed   strategically   throughout,   and   streams   of   sunlight   hits   the   rooms   perfectly   throughout   the   day.   

she   loves   to   have   an   iced   vanilla   latte   and   chocolate   croissant.   julia   doesn't   care   what   time   of   day   it   is,   but   she's   going   to   get   her   hands   on   them   before   she   rests.   

julia   has   been   coming   to   the   isle   for   four   years.   initially,   it   started   as   a   preferred   vacation   spot   for   herself   and   her   then   partner,   but   has   since   become   something   like   a   second   home.   in   truth,   you   can   see   julia   all   over   the   island.   she   likes   to   spend   time   at   the   beach   club,   but   that's   not   to   say   she   can't   be   found   elsewhere.

      what's   in   her   bag?   —   an   iphone   16   pro   max   in   desert   titanium,   light   pink   gucci   emblem   cardholder,   an   unscented   touchland   hand   sanitizer,   l'occitane   hand   cream,   a   claw   clip,   a   makeup   bag   filled   with   miniatures   for   touch   ups,   sunscreen,   antibacterial   facial   mist,   three   lippies   (   summer   fridays   pink   sugar,   fenty   gloss   bomb   stix   in   fenty   glow,   topicals   slick   salve   ),   an   overstretched   hairtie,   and   a   travel   size   valentino   donna   born   in   roma   perfume.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

best   friend,   confidant,   unlikely   friends,   positive/negative   influence,   platonic   soulmates,   family   friends,   cousins   (   must   be   half   thai   or   half   white   ),   one   night   stand,   one   sided   romance,   friends/enemies   with   benefits,   forbidden   romance,   fling,   blind   date,   enemies,   rivals,   frenemies   !

THE   EX   HUSBAND   :   let   me   work   out   some   kinks   ...   👀

[postcard-from-the-past]

"Marie-Louise" villa in Franceville-Plage, Normandy region of France

French vintage postcard

[elvenbeard]

Long rambly headcanon post about Kerry's sexuality incoming (because I have been thinking about this ever since I first met him in game and I wanna write it down somehwere).

Disclaimer: this is my personal headcanon. You don't have to agree with any of this, this is for fun and games. If you do happen to agree with this though hmu bc I need someone to talk Kerry with desperately xDD

So, first of all: I think Kerry himself doesn't give a fuck about labels. Too old for this shit, confident in his own sexuality, what difference does it make? Labels are great for those who need them, he's not against them at all, but I don't think it's something that's he's thinking about a lot. Is he gonna put on a rainbow shirt for Pride? Yeah why not, especially if his partner would like to go protest and celebrate togther. But I think it's not a top priority of his (at least not anymore, in 2077, at the ripe old age of 89. A young Kerry living in our times was probably louder and a lot more outspoken, but in this post I'm gonna talk about my thoughts on grandpa Kerry).

So, let's dive into the game. When the topic of Louise came up during my first playthrough (the first and only time sadly, I'd love to know more about her as a character - more headcanons incoming in a minute), internally I went like... what? Where does this come from? Not in a judgemental way, just honest surprise, because up until this point, Kerry had only been depicted as attracted to guys (making the saddest puppy eyes at Johnny, making out with a fan backstage, Johnny's various comments on him, their sexual-tension-filled relationship with each other). Beyond that, what we know from Kerry himself, he seemed to have tried to get something going with Ariel (who I think is a man - correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I played the actual conversation between him and Johnny at the villa and I'm not sure if he mentions Ariel's gender there). In the Temperance ending, if V was in a relationship with Kerry, Kerry will recount his other shitty exes of which at least one was also a man, and in the Sun ending, when his (male) manager calls, V can ask if that is "an ex of [his]".

That being said... yeah, Kerry flirts with V regardless of gender. Why? Maybe he doesn't know that himself, maybe he thinks V is cute, maybe it's a power play, maybe he just wants to annoy Johnny who cannot escape the situation, who knows, anything goes. His whole rockstar persona is this carefree, laidback sexgod thing, of course he's gonna be flirty. He is flirty with the Us Cracks girls, too (at least I'm getting the impression - they definitely are flirty with him and he doesn't mind, but it could also all be part of the show). So me personally, yeah, I think Kerry is bisexual, but with a strong preference for guys (sincerely, me, a bisexual who also has a preference for guys). Maybe Louise was his bisexual awakening, or a once-in-a-lifetime thing that never happened again with any other woman, or a mix of both. See also: Kerry turns a female-presenting V down when things get serious. Flirting is fun, she is nice and kind and into it, so why the hell not? But he's not gonna lead her on when he notices she wants more than what he's willing to give. Friends can flirt with each other without it turning romantic or sexual. And yeah, I think Kerry is generally attracted to people regardless of what's in their pants, but as soon as things get serious he is infinitely more likely to go for a guy than for a woman.

That being said (and now we're back at Louise), I think it's absolutely fair to headcanon him as gay, too. There is so little we know about the nature of his only (canonically depicted, spelled-out "that's my ex-wife" style) long-term relationship with a woman. This is the dark future, where you can genetically engineer your child to look however you want it to look. Maybe Kerry and Louise were just two sad and lonely individuals that were like "let's raise kids together to fill the void in our hearts!" - and, using Kerry's words, that went as well as you'd expect it. Could be that Louise is a lesbian who wanted a family and kids, and Kerry, being a close friend of hers, said yeah let's do it (and maybe I won't be so fucking lonely anymore and find a new purpose in being a father)! And for reason xyz it was easier to raise the kids if they were also married (something something about getting married to be allowed to have kids - I etiher heard or read something in game once about a 1-child-license or something, again, dark future fuckery could be involved here). Also, historically, there are certainly countless examples of queer men marrying queer women to get their conservative families off their backs. With how little we know about Louise, not even how old she was when they got together, it could also be something like that. And (turning back now to Kerry's flirty behaviour around women when someone else is watching) everything else could have been part of the show - for families, for the media, for the public, for the fans, everything goes.

What I'm trying to say, there's hundreds of ways to headcanon a fictional character's sexuality. Maybe Louise and Kerry were friends with benefits, maybe they fell madly in love, maybe there's more women in Kerry's past than what the game depicts (there's countless women's clothing items across his villa - that could be anything from leftovers of wild parties in which he wasn't involved to him taking home groupies and everything beyond that and inbetween).

You could also just say "Kerry is gay cause I say so, that's as deep as it gets" and that is just as valid. Don't be like me and spend your sleepless nights thinking about this because my brain works in mysterious ways. If you wanna headcanon him as gay because it brings you comfort, wholeheartedly, go for it. If you wanna heacanon him as not turning down your female V because it brings you comfort, go for it, by all means! If you wanna headcanon him as cis, trans, everything inbetween, hell yes, be my guest!!

Kerry is a fictional character, he's not gonna be offended or hurt. And every real person who gets upset about how someone else likes to play with their favourite pixel ken doll then, well... touch some grass @ that person. Headcanons do not take away representation from marginalized groups. Block and blacklist what you don't wanna see and move on, it's so easy (and on that note, anyone who wants to be weird or hateful on this post is gonna get blocked, too xD).

As I said, this is all my thoughts and opinions, if you don't agree, that's fair, I get it, I don't agree with 80% of headcanons I come across (not even just regarding a characters sexuality, but in general). But yeh I'd also love to talk if you have similar views on him!

On that note... happy pride xD🏳️‍🌈 be kind to each other!

[mesetacadre]

When the Red Army entered Korea in early August, 1945, heavy battles took place in the north, but the Japanese rule remained tranquil in the south, for the Russians stopped by the Yalta agreement at the 38th parallel, while the Americans came several weeks after the surrender of Japan, and ruled at first through the Japanese and then through the Japanese-appointed Korean officials and police. So naturally all of the pro-Japanese Koreans – former police and officials, landlords and stockholders in Japanese companies – fled south to the American zone. The flight of all these right-wing elements amazingly simplified North Korean politics. The Russians did not have to set up any left-wing government, assuming that they wanted one. They merely set free some ten thousand political prisoners and said, by implication; “Go home, boys, you’re free to organize.” Under Japanese rule all natural political leaders either served Japan or went to jail. With the pro-Japanese gone, the ex-jailbirds became the vindicated heroes of their home towns. They were all radicals of sorts, including many Communists. Anyone who knows what a tremendous reception was given to Tom Mooney when he was released to come home to the workers of San Francisco, may imagine the effect on the small towns and villages when ten thousand of these political martyrs came home. North Korea just naturally took a great swing leftwards, and the Russians had only to recognize “the choice of the Korean people.” People’s Committees sprang up in villages, counties, and provinces and coalesced into a provisional government under the almost legendary guerrilla leader Kim Il Sung. Farmers organized, demanded the land from the landlords and got it in twenty-one days by a government decree. (Compared to the land reforms of other countries, this sounds like a tale of Aladdin’s lamp!) Ninety per cent of all big industry – it had belonged to Japanese concerns – was handed over by the Russians “to the Korean people” and nationalized by one more decree. Trade unions organized, demanded a modern labor code, and got it without any trouble from their new government, with the eight-hour day, abolition of child labor, and social insurance all complete. Another decree made women equal with men in all spheres of activity and another expanded schools. Then general elections were held and a “democratic front” of three parties swept unopposed to power. The natural opposition had all gone south, to be sheltered – and put in power – by the Americans. This is the, reason, I think, for the almost exaggerated sense of “people’s power” that the North Koreans express. Their real class struggle is coming; it hasn’t fully hit them yet. The reactionaries all fled south, where they are bloodily suppressing strikes. In North Korea the farmers are building new houses and buying radios because they no longer pay land rent, while the workers are taking vacations in former Japanese villas. The North Koreans assume that this is just what naturally happens when once you are a “liberated land.” “They aren’t yet liberated down south,” they told me. “The Americans let those pro-Japanese traitors stay in power.”

In North Korea: First Eye-Witness Reports, Anna Louise Strong, 1949