When Lewis Carroll published Alice In Wonderland, people thought the Queen of Hearts was making fun of Queen Victoria. The scrawny little King running behind her didn’t help. Yup. Queen Victoria and Albert, they whispered. Mocking the royals in words written for children was a thing. That’s what most nursery rhymes were. (If you’re interested in that, let me know!) He finally had to fess up. When Alice in Wonderland made its theatrical debut two years later, he announced that the Queen of Hearts was not Queen Victoria.

This was a little thing, but it stuck with me. Last month, Matt Yglesias joined the latest Twitter replacement (LOL), Bluesky. He was immediately dogpiled by screaming assholes. As a result, he posted that he was going to leave the platform. Give a gift subscription Get 20% off a group subscription “We did it folks,” tweeted the People’s City Council of Los Angeles (“Abolitionist, anti-capitalist & anti-imperialist collective amplifying the voice of the people through direct action, public ed + community space”).

Murray Stenson, the Seattle barman who was a mentor figure to legions of young mixologists in the aughts and early 2010s, died on Sept. 22 at the age of 74. Since then, there has been a great outpouring of memories on social media—anecdotes that are known in bar circles as “Murray Stories.” Some of the stories had to do with his infallible memory. He could remember a customer’s name and preferred drink after a single visit to whatever bar he was working at.

I went to the no-phones restaurant. I gazed upon the plates suspended from the medieval chains. I ate the stunningly plush English muffin, griddled in clarified butter, and I wrote up a brief report, which you can read here. (If you’re unfamiliar with the context of this restaurant, I suggest starting there.)  By semi-popular demand, here’s a longer account of opening night at Frog Club. I’ll tell you about the food, and try to dive into questions that attendees and community members are posing around the project.

At the beginning of the year, I was invited by Gallery Nucleus to create an illustration for an upcoming group show. They are hosting an exhibition featuring the work of legendary Disney concept artist Eyvind Earle, and to celebrate the 74th anniversary of Sleeping Beauty, the gallery also planned a tribute show of artwork inspired by both the movie and the artist. I had a lot on my plate this spring, but I couldn’t say no to the opportunity.