Well. How are we doing? As of right this second I am an anxious ball of existential dread listening to the helicopters hover nearby. I am actively considering stress baking, which I haven’t done once during all of quarantine. I've frantically checking social media for updates and reading takedowns and thinkpieces. I signed up for an online meditation class this morning and bailed on it because I was too wound up, which is like, the opposite of what you're supposed to do.
When it finally got to be too much, I started writing, which is always a good idea (unless you occupy the White House and are rage tweeting from the toilet). I was saving a lot of these links for Friday, but it's possible you need them now. While we (I, me, white people) may not bury our heads in the sand, one thing I've learned during all of this (meaning 2016 to present) that when the depression/anxiety loop starts to play in your head, it's a really good idea to step away from the internet and do something unrelated.
So. Here is something completely different.
1.) Aside from Tiger King, I didn’t really watch a new series during shelter-in-place. Instead I put on an old one and rewatched from the beginning. I was slow to catch on to Mad Men when it originally aired. I don’t remember why. But once I caught on and caught up, I was so hooked. Re-bingeing it now was the television equivalent of putting on pants with an elastic waist and cracking open a bottle of wine at 3 pm. In the best way. The costumes, the hair, the one liners, the matinee idol-ness of Don Draper with his hat and the comb marks in his hair. Remember when he fixed the Campbells' sink? Then, as now, I digested a lot of the show with the help of the writers at Vulture.com, who ran plucky episode recaps that eventually evolved into a dense meditations on themes of death, identity and change.
It’s been five years since the series ended, which is hard to believe because it feels way longer than that. Then again, remember a few weeks ago when you might feel inclined to hug a stranger? EONS AGO. But show completely holds up. It’s still gorgeous. AND! My friends at Vulture tied all the relevant reading into a neat little box-set-style package with all the episode recaps and included some extra credit reading. (I believe that it's disappearing from Netflix soon, but this being 2020, you can probably buy a box set for Prime delivery some time in August.)
Also, I need to replace my Sterling Cooper Price mug, which is completely faded from going in the dishwasher and which I’ve used every day for five years. Not bad for ten bucks.
Also:
2.) I’m not, like a “royal watcher,” except that they keep turning up in my Facebook feed like bad pennies. So I sort of have opinions about them. I find Will and Kate to be incredibly boring and deeply stodgy. Harry and Meghan are much more exciting, but I also find their choices perplexing. L.A.? Really? However, I did get suckered into clicking this link to pictures of the jewelry that Kate and Meghan inherited from Princess Diana. May we all have an aquamarine divorce celebration ring and a go-to tiara.
Somehow in all of this I landed on the Town & Country website (?) and managed to find this loving tribute to caftans and how to wear them in our current circumstances. I don’t know why this hasn’t occurred to us before.
3.)
No one:
Not one person:
Etsy: Here’s a kit to DIY a tattoo at home!
Do not do this. It will not work out. Just go get a tattoo by someone who gives tattoos for a living that is not also a carnie (I speak these words from experience, though they were probably more carnie-adjacent than actual carnies, it's not a great tattoo. At least there are no typos.).
4.) This guy found some mice in his back yard and built them a village that looks like Hobbiton. I’m 100% sure that he is a serial killer, but the mice seem to be enjoying themselves. At least until be builds them a murder dungeon.
5.) Okay, you guys. I'm going to say a thing and you are going to freak out, but hear me out: paranormal women's romance fiction. OMG! My tastes in books are weirdly specific. In the summer I like non-fiction. Last summer I did a deep dive into Bonnie and Clyde and the Dust Bowl. In the winter, I like to read heavier material with complicated protagonists and dark outcomes. But back when the pandemic started, I would start to read a book and my eyes would lose focus and I'd find myself rereading the same paragraph over and over. So I did what I did after my Dad died, and that was to reread all my Nancy Drew books. In the current climate I need to point out that Nancy, or should I say Carolyn Keene, is incredibly problematic. So I'm not really recommending those books so much as letting you know my current level of sophistication. Which brings me to....paranormal romance.
A couple of years ago, a friend gave me a book from a series she'd been enjoying about the adventures of a paranormal private investigator. I ate it all up. The protagonist is funny and supportive of other women, and her boyfriend is...well, not for the faint of heart. In case you're not clear, this book is full of paranormal sex. And solving crimes and Mexican food, but, well. You know. The series falls apart slightly under the weight of its own mythology, but creating a fictional world is hard. Just ask CS Lewis. Everyone's a critic.
Last week, I texted my friend that I was interested to see what she was reading. "I only read stories about like, hot fairy sex, so maybe you don't want my recommendation." But I was like, hello that's why you're my go-to right now.
My sister also recommended the Shadow and Bone series when I told her about my convo with my friend. Seems like the right idea.
Anyway, my friend gave me a list of ideas. I'm starting here. And if you're interested in more, lmk.
All right you guys. Thank you to the marchers, supporters, sweepers, to those who lifted their voices, to those who donated, to those who are actively trying to change. Keep going. Now is not the time to be silently not racist. Now is the time to be LOUDLY ANTI-RACIST. And it's okay to walk away from the computer or phone. You need to regroup so you still have strength to fight.
Also:
XOXO
-PDM
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