June Grab Bag
Happy pride! Turns out being in community with people is good
What a whirlwind of a week! A heat dome, an exciting time in NYC politics and pride weekend, all packed into seven days. Writing this tanned and tired from a day out at a pride block party, reminded that there is always joy and solidarity to be found in your local communities.
Happy Virgin release weekend to all who observe – I am a Lorde devotee and have been loving this album. I have so much more to say so might dedicate next month’s review to it. Some standout songs for me were “Hammer,” “Favourite Daughter,” “Current Affairs” and “Broken Glass”
Really feels like people fall into strong pro or strong anti on Celine Song’s Materialists, I think I’m a light strong pro. I guess it just clicked for me!
Had never seen 28 Days Later but jumped on the bandwagon given all the marketing for 28 Years Later. Enjoyed it more in theory than as a watching experience (kind of the opposite reaction to Materialists, weirdly!), but undoubtedly well made and influential to the genre. Interested in 28 Years Later now though!
Really got lost in the lush prose of Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, a great fantasy/haunted house novel. I love the feeling of racing through the final third of a book just from being so caught up in the story
The heat dome in NYC made it too unpleasant for any “serious” TV watching (dying to catch up on Andor Season 2 but still haven’t gotten to it!). Instead we’ve been speeding through the most recent season of Taskmaster with Jason Mantzoukas
I didn’t really follow the Benson Boone discourse because I prefer overwrought discussions of star images and What They Mean For Society about female pop girlies, because I’m a feminist. Anyway, Jeremy D. Larson’s scorcher of a review of Benson Boone’s album in Pitchfork made me laugh a lot
An unexpected delight was Slow West – a twee Western, a tight story coming in at under 90 minutes, with a delightful final showdown
Movies I watched on a plane this month: Lilo and Stitch (I always watch this in the air and cry my eyes out) and Sweethearts (fine. It’s fine! Give Caleb Hearon a starring role in something please)
My favorite part of Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer series was the glimpses into these simple, idealistic utopian sci-fi futures. While sometimes we have to face The Horrors head on, I love the chance to imagine a better world. Her new series of two novellas, Monk and Robot, really delivered that
Love that lil robot This weekend I tabled at a pride month book giveaway at my local library and left with such a feeling of being connected to my community. Talking to families and groups of friends! Meeting my fellow volunteers! Really reminds you of how we can look after each other in small, every day ways
Anyway this is all to say, I want to hear about things you’re doing in your local communities! How are you connecting with other people? What’s felt joyful and rewarding recently? Share below!
Each month I will try to highlight an organization that’s important to me, in a small attempt to help out In These Trying Times. While financial donations are great, there’s also other ways to get involved in community building work — volunteering, building relationships with neighbors, offering up skills and services you might have.
Today I’m shouting out the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Commenting to add that I misspelled Alix E. Harrow's name in the first draft of this post! It's corrected now but will still show up that way in the original email. Apologies!
I just love these!