In a true display of how much of everything we think we know about modern life has actually been done before, today over at KendallBrooks.com the topic is beads. Viking Age beads, to be exact. turns out, way before Pandora monetized it, Viking women were collecting beads and charms that often had cultural or personal significance.

Yes, I am aware—it's been a hot minute. But you'll be pleased to know that I am not, in fact, dead. I'm actually sitting at Heathrow Airport as I write this, which I imagine is a lot like being dead, only instead of a sudden understanding of the interconnectedness of all that is shape and matter, you get to dispassionately sip coffee while observing the great British pastime of pints at zero dark thirty.

As it likely did for many, if not most of you, Pantone's enthusiasm for unseasoned aesthetics has left me wrinkling my nose and side-eyeing them for a second year in a row. It is a color that is in fact, the absence of color. A non-color to match our blank expressions as we all stare vacantly at our smartphones, desperate for stimulation.