Jill Slater, design goddess

I am so proud to say that I got to experience a few phases of project Stripey Walls. Here is a great video of Jill explaining how to make your wall look great, in an obsessive yet fun manner. I might take her up on the idea sometime soon, myself, as I am known to enjoy the occasional compulsive paint project.

WeekendTherapy: Celebrate Your DIY Imperfection!

Pulling out is hard to do

The dangerously charming and erudite Jared Greene writes (and I post belatedly):

It's a week's since Purim's end, and I'm still no closer to resolving the persistent question that continues to bug me about the Book of Esther: why can't the king of the Persians revoke his own edict to massacre the Jews? After Esther implores him to save her people, he advises her to write a new decree on royal stationery, authenticated by the royal seal, licensing the Jews to resist the onslaught. Such a strange thing that the sovereign can't supercede or suspend positive law, and in Carl Schmitt's phrase, "decide the exception."

It's not clear whether the ancient Persians had a constitutional monarchy going, or had laws stipulating that the king can't revoke written law, or whether the king honored an ethos of self-restraint. Particularly weird, considering the narrative recounts several volte-faces whereby the king revises his settled opinions about things (like naming Haman his Rumsfeld-like secretary of state, then killing him later)--as if to reinforce the crown's limitations. I hit up a bunch of know-it-all types after the Megillah reading last week, but didn't get any satisfactory answers--probably because I stopped short of bothering the truly erudite with such a silly question.

Does anyone have something for Jared that they might post in the comments? Come on, touch the scepter.

Oooh, not a 7 letter word!

If you finished Monday's crossword puzzle in the New York Times, your answer for 43 Down, clued as "Scoundrel," was SCUMBAG. Most puzzlers, penciling in these letters, felt nothing more than mild satisfaction. But a small number knew enough to be outraged.

Shortz is in for it now! From today's Slate:

The Dirty Word in 43 Down: A New York Times crossword gaffe

My friends taint that smart sometimes

Warning, this is crass and definitely NSFW.