Greetings from hell. Wow, what a terrible time to have enough cognitive function to receive news. Really starting to regret having media literacy.
A friend of mine owns a bookstore in South Minneapolis and she’s been keeping us (the group chat) informed and directing our resources to places she trusts. One of those places is Community Aid Network MN (CANMN). CANMN is a mutual aid group distributing food, diapers and other essential supplies to folks in the Twin Cities who are afraid to leave their homes. You can donate to CANMN here.
If you’d like to support a bookstore out in the streets fighting for their neighbors, might I recommend placing an online order from Tropes & Trifles for either Pounded by Produce (VeggieTales porn) or any of their elite staff pics.
Game Changer by Rachel Reid
I thought I didn’t need to read the first book, that I could skip straight to Ilya and Shane. I was wrong! This is the story of Scott and Kip. It’s a great read if you’ve watched Heated Rivalry. Really sweet and tender love story, and it adds a lot of context that I didn’t pick up on from the show.
Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman
This book is great. I know you think you don’t want to read a book about spousal rape, but trust me, you want to read this. Sarah Weinman tells the history of spousal rape via a court case in 1978 that started it all. She follows the backlash and subsequent cases into modern day, tying it all back to that original case. If you’re a person who reads about feminism and misogyny, add this to your TBR.
The Book of Luke by Lovell Holder
Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. This was great! Probably the most fun I’ve had reading a book in a long time. The plot is like if all your favorite contestants from 20 years of reality TV went on Survivor and half of them are gay. Plus one of them is a gay, Republican U.S. Senator in the middle of a sex scandal.
I’m late to this, but I recently finished listening to Sarah Marshall’s eight-episode podcast The Devil You Know. Sarah does an amazing job connecting the satanic panic of the 80s and 90s to the moral panic of today towards trans and queer kids.
Melani Sanders, who created the viral We Do Not Care Club, was on the Burnt Toast podcast last week. I love Melani and this is a great episode.
Alexander Chee wrote about Heated Rivalry. It’s a long read, but it’s worth it.
Ragen Chastain wrote about the new Wegovy pill and its dubious claims. This is part one of three.
I know Taffy Brodesser-Akner has been around for awhile now, but this is the year I found her. She is quickly becoming one of my fave writers and thinkers, especially on popular culture. In this piece for the NYT (gift link), she writes about accidentally becoming a stan. I almost want to become a teacher just so I can teach this piece as an example of how to combine personal essay and criticism. Here are my two favorite lines:
“‘You’re a fan,’ he said. ‘This is what it is to be a fan.’ He said it so kindly, the way a doctor talks to a mental patient in the movies.”
“I’ve been a journalist for a long time, and so I can say this: Most investigations are initiated in the public interest. Some of them are personal. This one was pursued in the hopes of an exorcism.”
Poet Danez Smith memorializes Renee Nicole Good for Harper’s Bazaar. Smith writes, “Neighbor, you should be alive. Neighbor, you should have risen into another good morning with your wife. Neighbor, you should have made it home to your child, to the bright warmth of his laughter, but our country is at war with its people, and your goodness makes you an enemy, a citizen insurgent.”
You’ve likely read this by now, but I don’t care. Re-read it! Sam Irby wrote about Heated Rivalry, saying:
“remember when the twilight books first came out and your aunt sandy started dressing up like a werewolf and spending three hours in line outside the expo center, her matted brown fur broiling her alive under a punishing sun, just to get into a convention for the chance to take a photo with a besparkled edward cullen lookalike? that’s me now, except i’m wearing a yassified hockey jersey and looking up plane tickets to montreal.”
In her Audacious Roundup, Roxane Gay linked to this piece about how much people hate their refrigerators. This is a wild read if you didn’t know fridge manufactures are designing fridges based on those insane TikTok people who post about how to “decorate” the inside of your fridge. I saw a TikTok recently with a LIT, THREE WICK candle inside the fridge. What is going on?
When I lose the capacity to feel my feelings, I watch something that makes me feel things for fake people. And this is how I (finally) ended up watching Dying for Sex. I binged it in two nights and processed my grief for Renee Nicole Good by crying over Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate for four hours.
In related news, I’m watching The Wire for the first time. I’m obsessed with finding similarities between The Wire and Bosch, and with making John (a Maryland native) explain every piece of ephemera tacked to the cubicle walls in the show.
Like many people on TikTok, I have recently learned I’m Chinese. (If you don’t know, don’t ask. Respect our divergent FYPs.) I can’t stop watching these videos about how Chinese aunties stay loose and limber.
I’m sure this is a sign of my mental state, but I’m obsessed with these creature walks on TikTok. They’re so relaxing and pure.
This knitting creator (EmtotheThird) I follow has started a new series she’s calling K.U.L.T. It’s what she’s Knitting, a Url she found interesting, what she’s Listening to and how she plans to Touch grass. I kinda love it.
What did TikTok diagnose me with this week? Rheumatoid arthritis.
Did I finish a jigsaw puzzle? Yes.
Did I start a new jigsaw puzzle? No.
Did I make a collage? Yes, see above.
Did I buy anything insane at the thrift/antique store? Yes, see above.
Did I touch grass? Yes. I went to The Frist with my friend Gail to see the Paul McCartney photo exhibit.
Yes. In Sarah Weinman’s new book Without Consent, there’s a chapter on Lorena Bobbitt. Guess who’s penis-less husband went on the Howard Stern Show. Weinman writes, “John appeared on the Howard Stern Show numerous times, where jokes and insults about Lorena abounded.”
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Note: All of the books I reference can be found in my bookshop.org storefront.
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