May Grab Bag
On the joys of plane movies, vampires, and the post office
Writing this while in a miserable book rut where I keep reading things that are just OK. I’d take even a real stinker over just blandly all right at this point. I tried requesting the new Emily Henry book from the library as something I knew I’d enjoy only to land #287 in the queue :(
So, any book recommendations? I could go for a beach read, ala Emily Henry, to welcome in the summer, or some thriller/horror fare as seasonal counterprogramming.
Anyway, here’s May’s list of things I have thoughts about:
I recently went on vacation which means I got to do my favorite activity: curating the movies I watch on the plane. Here’s what I came up with this time. On the way there, The Accountant (unmemorable and made no sense, perfect plane movie) and School of Rock (a childhood classic); on the way back Clueless (a teenagehood classic) and You're Cordially Invited (I wanted so desperately for it to reach true romcom greatness, but it didn’t quite get there)
I was on board for Freaky Tales as soon as the Grand Lake Theater sign flickered on
I’m always following new developments in how we watch movies, so I’m super curious how this new venture goes! Similarly, enjoyed this rundown of the strategy behind bringing older movies back to the theaters
Captain Midnight makes such deceptively simple videos that let me keep up to date with the sides of pop culture I don’t care much about (i.e. the MCU), but this more random one he did talking about a Jimmy Fallon interview he hated made me laugh out loud
The most guessable thing about me is that I love Tavi Gevinson and think she’s a genius. I mentally highlight everything she says to ponder later and this interview with her is no different. Her zine Fan Fiction changed my life
My partner and I have a tradition that on our birthdays we get total control over the movie night pick for that week. This year my partner chose Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, a supremely silly movie, created by splicing together and recording over old kung fu movies from the 1970s. I love a gloriously stupid passion project
If you’re wondering what’s on my mind right now, this is the only thing I’m thinking about – thrilled to see Kristen Stewart return to the vampire genre after staying clear post-Twilight
The people (i.e. me) yearn for another Kristen Stewart vampire movie Really sad to see Polygon go, a site with some great talent and didn’t deserve the stripped for parts fate that so many digital media outlets succumb to. Aftermath had a nice little send off
So glad to have Kendra Gaylord’s perspective and interests represented in the YouTube video essayist genre – who else would make this video about the absolutely fascinating history of the post office?
This salad came to me in a vision a few months ago and I’ve been making it a lot as it’s been getting warmer. It’s certainly not re-inventing the salad wheel but here’s the basic recipe:
Salad: greens (lettuce or kale), cherry tomatoes (these are essential, imo), shredded carrot (or another crunchy vegetable), pickled onions, and something crispy like air fried chickpeas with curry powder, I even used a broken up pretzel rod in a pinch once and it slapped
Salad dressing: olive oil, mustard, balsamic/sherry vinegar, garlic (powder or fresh), maple syrup, salt n pep (ratio of everything can change based on how acidic/sweet/thick you want it)
Which brings us to the end! Let me know any book recs, and/or if you try the salad! See you in two weeks with another review.
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 Protect My Public Media.
Ok, so now I have to check out Emily Henry