On a trip to my local Joann craft-supply store recently, I felt a cheap thrill. An extremely cheap thrill. Huge signs posted on the front doors read STORE CLOSING and ENTIRE STORE 30%–70% OFF. One screamed NOTHING HELD BACK, which struck me as both desperate and alluring.
I walked in and wandered up and down the picked-over aisles, skimming my fingers across the flannels, fleeces, silks, and satins. Buckets of yarn beckoned.
For the 2.2 million people in Houston who lost power Monday after Hurricane Beryl swept through the city, the first question they had was When will the electricity be back on? The city’s utility, CenterPoint Energy, didn’t yet have an online outage map to monitor. There was, however, a work-around. “The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker,” tweeted a user who goes by the name BBQ Bryan, alongside a screenshot of the beloved local fast-food chain’s location map on its app.
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If nutritional information were a slice of bread, we’d be living in a world full of dense 24-grain-and-seed loaves. The internet is stuffed with listicles, tips, and tricks for consuming the right ratio of “macros” (fats, carbs, and proteins). Rows and rows of vitamins and supplements fill pharmacy aisles.