A. S. Oscar Masinyana

Johannes Vermeer A Lady Writing c. 1665 Shown from about the knees up, a pale, smooth-skinned woman in a fur-lined yellow jacket looks out at us as she sits writing at a table in this vertical painting. The woman’s body faces the table to our left. She turns her head to gaze at us from the corners of her dark gray eyes under faint brows. She has a wide nose, and her pale lips are closed. Her light brown hair is pulled back and held in place with white bows, and gleaming teardrop-shaped pearl earrings dangle from her ears. Her lemon-yellow jacket is trimmed with ermine fur, which is white with black speckles, at the cuffs and down the front opening. A full, elephant-gray skirt falls to the floor beneath the jacket. Both hands rest on the table, and she holds a quill in her right hand, farther from us, on a piece of paper. She leans forward in her wooden chair. The back panel of the chair is covered in black fabric and lined with brass studs. Two gilded finials, carved into lions’ heads, face the woman’s back with mouths open. The table is covered with a celestial-blue cloth crumpled near the left edge of the canvas. On the table are a strand of pearls, a pale yellow ribbon, and a black box with three brown panels studded with pearls around silver keyholes. Two pewter gray vessels are visible just beyond it, in front of a second chair, which faces us. On the putty-gray wall behind the woman, a framed painting hangs in the upper left quadrant of the composition. The painting-within-the painting is done in muted tones of brown and shows a cello and other unidentifiable objects.

A request for help: what are your favourite pieces of writing on art? It can be just a sentence, or paragraph, not necessarily an entire essay or book. I'm helping to gather some pieces to share with young people (14–19 yrs old), and have some things already, but am keen to hear what you think too.

One of the things I wrote about in “Travelling While Black” was how the US concepts of race don’t always translate overseas. The instinct to create boxes, label and stick people in them is more about the people doing it than those to whom it is done. Not saying that racism isn’t real but

This is a really cool paper on the socialisation effects of studying at University. Surprisingly, the effects (moving in a leftward, liberal direction) are biggest for STEM students and those who move away from home to study, attend a single campus uni, and who live in ‘university towns’ and London.

A square poster with The Carpentries logo at the top left corner, and "THE CARPENTRIES IS NOW INDEPENDENT" as the main title at the top centre. Below the title is confetti in various colours

As of today The Carpentries is officially an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation! We take this joyous moment to express our deepest gratitude to the incredible community that has brought us here. Here’s to the future of The Carpentries—built on the foundation of an extraordinary community!

Tremendous cultural contrast coming here to South Africa. It is still a reading culture - like the USA was 40 years ago. The bookstores thrive, and the latest titles matter culturally and socially.

Just saw on Xiaohongshu that a society that thinks reading is a luxury status symbol is on the brink of collapse

Guess which ‘one’ hasn’t figured it out yet?! 👇

Just one guess. 🇺🇸

When men rage, they blow and shoot things up and start wars.

When women rage, we create.

We knit, do embroidery and cross stitch. We create new things ... while we figure out how to fix the broken things.

Behold rage project #1

A poster with #GivingTuesday as a title, and "Support The Carpentries' Transition to Greater Autonomy With Your Donations" as a subtitle. The Carpentries' Gratitude symbol is at the centre of the poster. The symbol is a pink heart-shaped sign with The Carpentries' logo in white enclosed within it.

#GivingTuesday, the global “movement that unleashes the power of radical generosity around the world”, is here @givingtuesday.bsky.social!

This year at The Carpentries we appeal to you for donations of any amount to help support our transition to an independent NPO! carpentries.org/blog/2024/12...

Thank God I got a new born soul

Testing testing..