This holiday season I’ve had a few Australian friends travelling in the US, and something I’ve seen repeatedly on Twitter is, basically, this: America, Y U NO HAVE POSTOFFICES?! — lianaskewes (@lianasmooz) January 2, 2014 So, here is a guide for US post offices, aimed at Australians. I’m qualified to write this because I had exactly this experience when I moved there. It went something like this. Me, to office manager: “Hey, where’s the nearest post office?” Office manager: “Uh… I think there might be Continue reading → Hey, I am massively disorganised this week, but I figured I should probably mention that I’m going to be travelling and would like to catch up with people. Saturday 15th to Monday 17th June, I will be in San Francisco, mostly in the Castro/Mission/ish area. Social activities planned so far include: Saturday afternoon: hanging out on Liz Henry’s patio in Bernal Heights, with laptops and snacks and generally socialising. Likely to be a hackerish/feminist crowd. If you know Liz and where she lives, just show Continue reading → Cities and Citizenship: Anti-Graffiti, Part 1: Aesthetics – An interesting take on the aesthetics of the anti-graffiti movement, and how it often co-opts graffiti to its own ends. Lots of interesting example pics from Sydney. Revising The Revisionists – Excellent article about the 1898 armed coup and massacre of black residents of Wilmington, North Carolina. Reminds me of the book “Lies My Teacher Told Me”, and of course Australia’s own “history wars”. The Strongest Woman In America Lives In Poverty – This top weightlifter, on Continue reading → Ravelry API – Wait, what? How did I miss this. Ravelry has an API now, and they’ve been using it internally since Feb 2012, so it isn’t just an unloved add-on. (You probably can’t follow the link, which is to the Rav API forum, unless you’re a member. But anyone who might be interested in this probably is already, so…) Our real first gay president – Newsweek says Obama’s the US’s “first gay president”, ignoring James Buchanan, who was openly gay in the 19th century. Continue reading → Mitt Romney, Bully In Chief? – s.e. smith brings a solid analysis of Mitt Romney’s school “pranks” (read: homophobic bullying) and what it could mean for his possible presidency. Chumbawamba – The Diggers’ Song – YouTube – Who knew that Chumbawumba had recorded an album of songs of political rebellion from 1381-1914? Not me for sure. This is their rendition of “The Digger’s Song”, a 17th century song by the same group that Billy Bragg sings about in “The World Turned Upside Down”. MOTU 4pre Continue reading →