#64: Victorian Girlhood, Vote time, and 35 mm surprises

What should I research for you in March?

March is going to be a ride, y’all.

I have some incredible topics lined up for this month. Often, I have a good idea about which one the group will favor, but right now I have zero clue which way the vote will go. But regardless, I cannot wait to research whatever it is y’all end up giving the ole thumbs up to.

Today I took myself to a café to study some French, and on the way, I picked up a roll of film I dropped off, and they are beautiful. They span from July 2024, when Rhody and I visited Rome, and end in November, when I began baking every technical challenge from this season of GBBO. There are too many favorites from that batch, so as a treat, I’ll intersperse a few gems here.

Otherwise, today’s newsletter is short and sweet. I’ll…

💌 remind y’all how voting works (and reveal next month’s topics to vote on!),

💌 share some interviews with old women about Victorian girlhood,

💌 and share this month’s poll so you can vote for the microfiction required action and word, choose this month’s mail topic, AND suggest future themes!

The ceiling of the Parthenon, 35mm, July 2024

🗳 Here’s how voting works

Every month, y’all vote on three things:

1. The required word for this month’s microfiction

2. The required action for this month’s microfiction

3. Next month’s topic

✍️ Microfiction?

Once voting closes on the 26th¹, I’ll write you a story short enough to fit on a postcard in just 48 hours, using the prompts you picked. I’ll also reveal the following month’s theme.

This month’s short story will be all about Vinegar Valentines:

Once my short story’s out in the world for you, it’s your turn. Write your own microfiction that follows the prompts, then post it in the comments, email it to me, or wrap it in a mean poem and mail it to me.

Geneva old town, 35mm, November 2024 - some photos turned out grainy, which normally never happens. Film heads, tell me what’s going on!

This month, we’re voting between four cool-ass topics:

1. The intimate letters of Randy Wicker, queer activist (and Stonewall Queen Marsha P. Johnson's roommate)

2. William Dorsey Swann - 1880s former slave, queer activist, and drag queen - writes to President Grover Cleveland

3. Hikyaku: Feudal Japan's robust and efficient mail service

4. The yarn order that arrived 138 years late (AKA French Bureaucracy strikes again!)

I am beyond amped to research any of these into the ground and will love whatever you choose.

Got a strong opinion? Voting is fun! Easy! And signing up gives you artwork to hang in your home or on your fridge:

You can also join my Patreon for as low as $2 a month to vote:

If you’re feeling ~vote curious~, dip your toes in and unlock your free post below.

Retrofuturist Rhody takes on VR at CERN in Geneva, 35 MM, November 2024 (I may need to paint this, I’m that obsessed)

But before you vote…

🦵🏽 Victorian Womanhood 101: Flash your ankles in Paris, but fuggedaboudit in England

This month I found y’all some interviews with Victorian women and they are incredible. In this first one, a 108-year-old recounts her youth and common propriety rules in Victorian England. Born in 1868, she tells the interviewer about old Punch & Judy comics and her opinions on airplanes. When asked about the biggest change she’s witnessed over the past 108 years, she said…