'Nocs walk 01

My girlfriend and I made a goal for this month to go on at least one excursion with our binoculars — a ‘nocs walk! — every week. We actually did three this week, but today’s was the first one where I had the pre-owned telephoto lens I bought last week. Here are some of the birds we saw:

Red-tailed hawk

American robin

Female house sparrow

Male house sparrow

Male house sparrow

White-throated sparrow

House sparrow

Rock pigeon

Camera/lens: Nikon D3000 + Nikon AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED lens

Nocs: Pentax UP 10x21 pink binoculars (hers) and Carson VP series full sized or compact waterproof high definition binoculars (mine)

Location: McCarren Park 🐩

🍑

Just Good Shit: 03.06.22

Hello!

I’m back in Brooklyn after a trip to the Catskills last week. My girlfriend and I stayed in a rental with a fireplace and hot tub, and that is
pretty much all we did! Woke up and soaked
did sunny midday soaks
soaked in the evening
took out the binoculars to peep birds while soaking
looked at snow and trees and stars while soaking
 truly the best way to do nature! (I was also moved to re-read this extremely soothing and delightful 2016 NYT Magazine article about Iceland’s public baths.)

We also knit by the fire, worked on a puzzle, made ziti, got takeout from Phoenicia Diner, drove to Ashokan Reservoir, and made a stop at Woodbury Commons. On Friday, we went birding in Prospect Park, which was
incredible?! We saw so many birds, including cardinals, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, a shitload of robins, and, right before we left, a throuple of wood ducks. (Next on my to-do list: Getting my nice camera repaired so I can properly capture them.) It was a really lovely time, and I’m just so glad we got to take this trip.

Here’s what else I’ve been up to


Reading

Right now we are just trying to survive, Welcome to Hell World.

Texas’s Attorney General Is Laying the Groundwork to Separate Trans Kids From Their Families, The New Republic.

Who Should Be Allowed to Transition?, NYT.
Related: “cis people also get gender-affirming procedures but just don’t call it that.”

So, Just Making Sure That We Agree: It's OK To Seize Oligarchs' Stuff Now, Forever Wars.

Justice According to Letitia James, NY Mag.

If you’ve rented a car from Hertz, there could be a warrant out for your arrest, Yahoo.
I hate Hertz. Hate!!!

The Endless Cycle of Opinion Havers, Men Yell at Me.

The Euphoria Problem, All in Her Head.

Paul Farmer Invented a New Way of Caring for One Another, The Atlantic.
“We must all care for one another—anything less is morally unacceptable.” I confess I didn’t know who Paul Farmer was before reading this obituary, but I still found it incredibly moving and inspiring.

A gripping yarn: inside the Knitting.com drama, Input.

Listening to

We started listening to Slate’s Decoder Ring podcast last week in the Catskills and it’s so good!! Think You’re Wrong About meets This American Life. I think we’ve listened to about 10 eps so far, and every one has been a banger. It’s hard to pick a fave but I really liked “Truck Nutz” and “Gender Reveal Parties.”

Have a good one! ✹

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Just Good Shit: 02.21.22

I wasn’t feeling well over this three-day weekend, so I spent most of it knitting and watching Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 4, which, combined with Season 3, is truly some of the best television — and certainly the best reality television — I’ve ever seen. The drama feels real, the brawls feel earned, and every goddamn line is a banger. I thought Succession was the best example of modern-day Shakespeare, but RHONJ certainly feels like one of his lesser-known plays. Season 3 opens with a brawl at christening (!!), where there’s ~150 guests and a prominently-displayed oil painting of the baby (Joey — there are so many baby Joeys) wearing a tiny newsboy cap. The whole two-season arc is pure camp and I’m fully obsessed.

Here’s what else I got up to this week


Reading

The Millions of People Stuck in Pandemic Limbo, The Atlantic.

The Moral Danger of Declaring the Pandemic Over Too Soon, NYT. (gift link)

“The lesson of the AIDS pandemic is that it’s easy to leave people behind, even if it is at the cost of our collective peril.”

27 Years in Solitary Confinement, Then Another Plea for Help in Texas, NYT. (gift link)

We are deeply and profoundly sorry: For decades, The Baltimore Sun promoted policies that oppressed Black Marylanders; we are working to make amends, Baltimore Sun.

The Crankification Engine, Gawker.

How Bosco Sticks Became the Secret Weapon of Midwestern Cafeterias, Eater.


Have a great week! 🍝

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Just Good Shit: 02.13.22

pinwheel lasagna, roses, and pellegrino on top of a white and red checkered tablecloth for Valentine's Day

I’ve been having such a cozy and relaxing Valentine’s Day weekend, I’m not ready for it to be over! Here, in no particular order, are the corny/on-theme activities we’ve gotten up to:

  • Wearing pink, lavender, and/or red loungewear all weekend

  • Buying roses from the grocery store

  • Making boxed brownies, then topping with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup (very chain restaurant molten lava)

  • Playing a little flower card game

  • Listening to Slut Pop, the new Kim Petras album

  • Watching Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 3 (thanks to a rec on the podcast from Caroline Moss), which is truly incredible television

  • Eating bread and brie plus strawberries with chocolate and whipped cream and, later, hot chocolate

  • Doing red/pink mani-pedis in bed

  • Making Don Angie pinwheel lasagna (from the frozen extras we made for New Year’s)

Here’s what else I had going on this week


My shit


Reading

What Do Masks Do to Kids?, The New Republic.

Boston University epidemiologist Dr. Eleanor Murray speaks on COVID-19 and endemicity Part 1 and Part 2, WSWS.

Stop Calling Them ‘Accidents’, NYT. (gift link)

Artificial snow is nothing like the real stuff, Vox.

How to win an Oscar, Vox.
This is a fascinating breakdown of what an “Oscars campaign” actually entails.

Was It Me? Or My Teeth?, NYT. (gift link)

'Goodnight Moon' and the Queer Love Story of the Great Green Room, Lambda Literary.

Have a good week! 💘

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Valentine’s Day gifts to self

Lavender notebook, red cardinal (bird) patch, and Tussie Mussie game, atop a red and white checkered tablecloth

I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day, thanks to its indomitable color palette, embrace of kitsch, and overall message: Let someone know you care about them! While it might be a a little late to buy something for your Valentine (though I do have a list of last-minute Valentine's Day gift ideas for the discerning but procrastinating drugstore shopper if that’s where you are this year), it’s absolutely not too late to buy a little treat for yourself.

Here are some recs, based on things I’ve bought/loved recently.

Until We’re All Free sweatshirt

Prison Abolition is Trans Liberation pink sweatshirt

This is part of a fundraiser for Trans Lifeline, and proceeds “go directly toward life-saving commissary & bail funds for trans people in prison.” Available in four shirt styles and four colors, sizes S–4XL, ranging from $25–$35. Get it from Bonfire.

Leuchtturm1917 Smooth Colours notebook

Leuchtturm1917 lavender softcover notebook

Leuchtturm is finally — FINALLY — making my beloved dot grid notebook in beautiful pastels. Available in four colors, four page styles, and either hard or softcover. Get it for $21 from Leuchtturm or Amazon.

Cardinal patch

red cardinal (bird) fabric patch

I received this cardinal as part of the bird patch monthly subscription, but you can buy it — and several other cute bird patches — individually. Get it from Bird Collective for $8.

Tussie Mussie

Tussie Mussie game

This game, which was designed by Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave, is based on the Victorian tradition of giving flowers to friends and romantic loves. There are only 18 cards, so it’s super portable (and easy to learn), and the cards themselves are so cute IRL. While it’s currently sold out (there’s a waiting list though!), it’s absolutely worth poking around Button Shy, which has a lot more of these extremely cute “wallet games.” (I also have Insurmountable, which is a one-player game — always nice to come across those.)

Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey

I am so excited that the author of my beloved Nature Fix is back with a new book! You can read an excerpt, and get a copy from Bookshop ($27.60) or Amazon ($21.05).

This was actually one of my girlfriend’s Valentine’s gifts to me and I love it! The tube is just a little bigger than a tube of chapstick (perfect for a knitting bag or fanny pack) and the product itself is really good — non-greasy, with a no-fragrance version (along with several scented options). Get it from The Knitting Hole for $11. 💝

🍑

Just Good Shit: 02.06.21

photo of a hand-knitted mallard duck

Hi and happy February! This week, I finished knitting this mallard duck (pattern from DotPebblesknits on Etsy), watched biathlon (extremely underrated Olympic sport imo), and listened to the newest Serial podcast (which I thought was very well done). Here’s what else I had going on


Reading

Why Wishful Thinking on Covid Remains As Dangerous as Ever, The Nation.

The American sickness, Indignity.
I also paid $6 to subscribe to this newsletter/access this related article (about masking in schools), and it was extremely worth it.

Working parents with little kids: how can your coworkers help you?, Ask a Manager.

What Scares the World’s Most Daring Olympians, NYT.
Loved this package.

Fuck Noom, Lifehacker.

Why Spotify Will Win, Slate.

To Find the History of African American Women, Look to Their Handiwork, The Atlantic.
Related: I just bought this book.

Sex With An X: The Perils Of Performative Spelling, Autostraddle.

Glorified Electric Golf Carts For All, VICE.

One Good Thing: A soothing tabletop game about birds, Vox.

How the Sausage Gets Made: Inside Hollywood's Prosthetic Penis Craze, Thrillist.

Have a nice week! 🩆

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Just Good Shit: 01.30.22

peach emojis repeating on a peach background

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hello! Here’s what I was up to this week


My shit

There’s a new ep of Oh, I Like That, and Sally and I were guests on Caroline Moss’s podcast Gee Thanks, Just Bought It.

Reading

When Omicron Isn’t So Mild, NYT. (gift link)

The Big-Name Journalists Who Are Trying to “Both Sides” Covid, The New Republic.

You Are Not Entitled To Our Deaths: COVID, Abled Supremacy & Interdependence, Leaving Evidence.
“Abled culture teaches abled people to be entitled. You are entitled to never have to learn anything about disability and ableism. You are entitled to get to move through the world, and through our movements, with little-to-no understanding or political analysis about disability, even as you pontificate about every other system of oppression and violence. Abled culture in our movements mean that we will say, ‘we must center those who are most impacted,’ all day every day, but then not include disabled, especially those who are high risk, in the center during a global pandemic. Abled entitlement means that you will still continue to plan your vacation abroad, even amidst the Delta surge; you will still post pictures from your giant family holiday gathering amidst the Omicron surge.”

We're All Trying to Find the Guy Policing Our Behavior, Alex Pareene.
“I find the tenor of discussion around Covid-19 restrictions genuinely bewildering. There basically aren’t any. The United States is powering through the Omicron wave with its usual enforced individualism. The hard restrictions on our activities are, for the most part, not mandated or enforced by the state, acting at the behest of liberals who refuse to go back to normal because they are addicted to panic and quarantine; the limits are imposed by the virus that isn’t going away.”

The Bogus Claim That School Closures Will Doom Democrats, The New Republic.

The New Face of “No Promo Homo” Laws, Slate.

‘Jeopardy!’ Hasn’t Had a Player Like Amy Schneider, NYT.

Watching

On an absolute impulse, I decided to check out the Saved by the Bell reboot on Peacock. I had super low expectations and was
delightfully surprised?! I have seen every episode of the original many, many times over, and my girlfriend had never seen it; we both really liked the reboot. All the references to the original feel more like Easter eggs than anything else, and it’s not overly nostalgic. (It’s also addressing race and class considerably better than And Just Like That
not that it’s so hard, but still.) And it’s just bizarro and silly and made us laugh out loud a bunch. A perfect little pick-me-up In These Times.

Cooking

We’re having a beany one: bean and cheese burritos, roasted tomato and white bean stew, and cheesy white bean and tomato bake (all from NYT Cooking).

Have a good night! ❄

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Just Good Shit: 01.23.22

assortment of pastel yarns on top of mint green rug

Hi, pals! This was a chill and cozy week, made better by the fact that it started with a Monday holiday. We made Parmesan chickpea soup (so easy), listened to JP Brammer’s audiobook (even better than the book, which I also loved), and watched the Beanie Mania documentary on HBO Max (absolutely delightful). I also got a ton of yarn and started working on my first big project of the year: a mallard duck!

Here’s what else I had going on


Writing

Reading

The world has moved on from Colleyville. American Jews can’t., Vox.

When My Mom Got Covid, I Went Searching for Pfizer’s Pills, NYT. (gift link)

Will Omicron Leave Most of Us Immune?, The Atlantic.

In Arkansas, Trans Teens Await an Uncertain Future, NYT. (gift link)

How Politics Tested Ravelry and the Crafting Community, The New Yorker.
This article has an audio option, and I highly recommend listening vs. reading if you’re able to — it’s like a perfect, fascinating podcast episode. (Bonus: Pair with the new knitting episode of Normal Gossip.)

The secret MVP of sports? The port-a-potty, ESPN.

Will Heated Gloves Help Me Stay Warm This Winter?, Wirecutter.
As someone with Reynaud’s who is perpetually on the hunt for good gloves, this article felt meant for me personally.

Wordle’s Creator Thinks He Knows Why the Game Has Gone So Viral, Slate.


Have a good night! 🌬

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One year of knitting

Person with stocking feet extending out from couch, with cozy winter scene playing on tv. Surrounding the person are cozy blankets and gray and cream yarns

Jan 2, 2021

This month marks my one-year anniversary of learning to knit, and it’s exciting to look back and see how far I’ve come. I love having hobbies, but knitting has definitely been one of the harder ones. It has a steep learning curve, so it’s easy to get discouraged and give up early on (or
at any point, really). It was even harder to learn to knit at home without any in-person instruction, which would have, I think, changed everything. That said, with enough trial and error, willingness to start over, and good old-fashioned practice (annoying, I know!), I’ve been able to finish several projects and can now confidently call myself a competent knitter.

Here’s everything I used to learn to knit, the projects I completed this year, my favorite tools, some tips I wish I’d known sooner, and my knitting goals for 2022.

How I learned to knit

My girlfriend and I both wanted to learn to knit, and she went first, with me a week or so behind her. We both used my friend Alanna’s book, How to Knit a Hat (also on Bookshop, but currently sold out), plus YouTube videos (which is something Alanna suggests doing in the book). Because my gf started before I did, I was able to get help from her, whereas she fully taught herself without anyone else to show her.

cream yarn knitting project in progress on a gray plaid blanket with an R monogram
cream beanie knit by a beginner, on a gray and white plaid blanket

We both finished the hat and then moved on to other projects.

Completed knitting projects 2021

Novice sweater

light blue sweater in the progress of being knit; one sleeve is partially finished, the other is missing

Knitting a whole-ass sweater felt like a huge step up after just doing a hat, and yet
it was the perfect step up! On my first attempt, I misread a step fairly early on in the pattern (it involved the increases at the yoke, and where you should start measuring the overall length) and didn’t really see a way to undo it. So I just started over! I remember being super bummed at the time, but it taught me an important lesson: that it’s often way easier to just start over, and that projects almost always look considerably better the second time around, even if it’s just redoing a cast-on or a cuff.

person wearing completed pale blue knit sweater

I don’t remember everything I worked on right after this one, but I know I attempted a Wool & the Gang sweater (the pattern is definitely not that hard, but I think I had problems because my yarn wasn’t quite the right weight and I was going off script in other ways, which was a bad idea); at least one hat; and a second novice sweater holding three strands of yarn in three different colors. None of these worked out, which was honestly fine! I’ve found I’m more of a “knitting is a journey, not a destination” knitter, and it was helpful to just practice, to get better at reading patterns (one of the hardest parts of knitting tbh), and to get practice buying yarn and needles and making sense of how they felt in my hands.

Lucky dog sweater

dog wearing a multicolor knit sweater with shades of brown, yellow, and green

The next project I (technically) completed was a dog sweater from Purl Soho. It was way, way harder than I expected, or than a dog sweater has any right to be. It involved a ton of short rows using the wrap-and-turn technique, which is annoying
but it turned out to be great, in a way, because it was a small project and the instructions were well-written compared to most patterns that utilize short rows. I also really liked the Lion Brand Yarn Wool-Ease Thick and Quick yarn; this color is Coney Island, but I also bought it in Dreamcatcher, which I used on a bunch of the projects I didn’t finish around this time. It’s fairly inexpensive but feels nice in your hands, is super easy to knit with, and always a lot better than I expect it to.

multicolor dog sweater in progress of being knit

I worked so hard on this sweater and all its fiddly little short rows, only to put it on Chuck and realize it didn’t fit quite right (it was too long in the neck). He made it very clear how much he hated wearing it, so I didn’t bother to fix it/redo it.

toy fox terrier wearing a multicolor dog sweater and hating it
adult and baby matching gray knit sweaters

After a longish break (vaccinated summer was
not the knitting zone), we got back into knitting again in August. I had a couple projects going around this time, but this is the first one I finished. And this one convinced me that the way to get better at knitting and actually finish projects (which helps you stay motivated) is to knit items for babies/children. This sweater, which I knit for my friend Julia’s daughter’s first birthday in October, utilizes literally the exact same techniques as the adult novice sweater, but it went so much faster. As part of the birthday gift, my gf knit the adult version for Julia so they had matching ones.

We used Berocco Ultra Alpaca Chunky yarn for both of these, a brand/weight that has become one of my favorites.

I actually knit this one from beginning to end twice! The first version, which I was thinking of as a prototype since I wasn’t going to be able to try it on the baby first, didn’t fit — the neck was too tight, and that wasn’t really something I could fix. So I just redid it and, again, didn’t regret that at all; it looked better the second time, and it was a quick enough project that I didn’t feel too precious about it, or like I’d wasted a ton of time.

This is the first project I knit swatches for; I learned that I knit very tight and need to make adjustments to patterns accordingly. It’s also the first project that I blocked, a step that I now love and swear by.

baby sweater on knitting blocks
toy fox terrier wearing another knit sweater and hating it

This is another dog sweater that calls for a very fussy technique; in this case, it was the i-cord cast-on that took like a year off my life, and for no good reason — he’s a dog, he doesn’t need a fancy cast-on! But I’d prefer to learn on a dog sweater than a human sweater.

lavender dog sweater knitting in progress
lavender dog sweater i-cord cast-on

(BTW, this is that Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn again; this time, the color is Fairy.)

This entire sweater is supposed to be ribbed, but I decided to just do the neck ribbing and then knit the rest, and I’m glad I did. He doesn’t love the finished sweater, and ribbing the whole thing just
would not have been worth the extra time it would have taken.

Aftenstocking

Green Christmas stocking and gray Christmas stocking hanging on shelf with red bird holders

At the beginning of 2021, my girlfriend and I made one resolution: To be able to knit these stockings by Christmastime. At the time, it felt impossible. Come fall, it felt
.very doable, but then it turned out to be kind of a pain in the ass! I think it was because of how the pattern is written, the fact that you need very small circular needles to start, and the fact that using short rows to make a heel is just
an endeavor.

Green knit Christmas stocking work in progress

It took me so long to figure out the heel turn (I redid it at least four times, probably more?) and when I finally got it right and then finished the whole stocking, it looked
bad. Why was the toe SO STUMPY???

Green knit Christmas stocking work in progress

I still don’t know!! But through the miracle of blocking and then felting — which happened at midnight on Christmas Eve lolsob — the stocking actually ended up looking pretty good.

Green Christmas stocking and gray Christmas stocking being blocked on Christmas Eve

And with that, my first year of knitting came to an end! There was one more big sweater that I started in September that I thought I’d be able to finish by the end of the year. In the end, I got slowed down because I had to learn new techniques (like sewing on sleeves) and because of some annoying/avoidable mistakes (e.g., using the wrong size needles on the sleeves, which meant they were too small). I finally made it to the home stretch, but I’m having a terrible time picking up the stitches for the neckline, so I’ve set it aside and will go back to it later. I was sick of it and needed a break.

Tools

Bag with tiny scissors, tape measure, clips, and highlighters

There are so, so many tools for knitters and it’s impossible to list all my favorites (and it’s so personal anyway), but there are a few that really made a difference this year:

Bags within bags

I swear by my Baggu baby bag + smaller individual zipper bags. Also, you won’t regret having tiny scissors and a tiny tape measure in your bag.

Plastic stitch markers

I think my girlfriend bought this case of colorful plastic stitch markers ($8.99 from Amazon) very early on in our knitting journey, and they are one of our most-used and most-loved items. I’ve tried some others in the time since, and honestly, the hot Cocoknits brass ones have nothing on these plastic ones. Truly an MVP.

A stitch counter

I finally bought myself a knitting counter this fall, and I don’t know what took me so long! (I was marking down a tally with a pencil and paper this whole time.) I really like the $9 metal one I have, and my girlfriend loves the $9 Clover one. (Hers makes the most satisfying sound every time she advances it.) I’ve also been experimenting with counting apps; sometimes you need to have two counters going at once, and an app is really helpful for that. I downloaded a bunch of different ones to try, and Count That Now is my favorite.

A knitting notebook

Another major “What took me so long?” addition to my life. More here.

A few tips I swear by

In no particular order, here are some of the things I wish I’d known/really understood as a beginner.

  • You have to like the yarn you’re using! You definitely don’t need fancy yarn, especially when you’re starting out, but you should really like looking at it (because you’re going to be stuck with it for a while). If you’ve done a few rows and are asking yourself the whole time if you really like the color or are already regretting choosing it, just stop and start over with a different color.

  • I have really never regretted starting something over when I realized I’ve made a mistake or something is looking loose/bad/etc. Pretty much everything looks better on a second pass. 

  • If something isn’t looking good and you’re stressed about it, put it away for a while and come back to it. Most things look better with fresh eyes/once you’ve zoomed out and are looking at the entire project. And if they still look bad, well, see above tip about starting over.

  • A lot of surface mistakes can be “fixed in post” — aka when you’re all done. For example, blocking solves a huge amount of problems (e.g., you’ve got some stitches that are looking a little funky), and underarm holes can easily be sewn together when you’re done.

  • Knitting slower and reading the patterns slower would have solved like 75% of my knitting problems in the past year.

  • My girlfriend and I store all of our knitting patterns in a shared Google Drive folder so we can easily find them/re-print them later. We both always work from a printed pattern, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to pull up the pattern on your phone when you’re in a store, or look up a specific instruction on your phone if the pattern is kind of out of reach.

  • Most local knitting stores have some form of IRL classes/office hours/etc. where you can get personalized help and ask questions about your projects. (So, for example, if it had been safe to go IRL in December, I would have definitely done that for the stocking heel trouble I was having.)

  • If you find a YouTube tutorial you really like, save it to a playlist! You’ll probably need to reference it again in the future, and not all YouTube tutorials are created equal.

  • Take more notes than you think you’ll need to; you won’t remember things as well as you think you will, not even the things that are giving you a ton of grief.

  • Yarn is a great souvenir! During the trips my girlfriend and I took this fall, we found yarn stores and picked out yarn as a special souvenir from the trip.

2022 knitting goals

Heading into the new year, here are my big knitting goals:

Learn to knit continental. I think this style of knitting will allow me to knit a lot faster and more comfortably. I’ve actually already started learning and it turned out to be
a lot easier than I expected? I think it’s also helping me adjust my tension/make up for the fact that I’m knitting too tight, which is something I really needed to correct, so I’m thrilled.

Knit with blocks of color. This is this year’s stocking goal, aka a goal my girlfriend and I both want to do. This might look like intarsia or a Fair Isle
we’ll see! For me, this is very much a Q4 goal.

Knit an object of some sort. I recently discovered the big world of knit animals, and realized there are tons of other non-clothing items one can knit (like Christmas decorations or vegetables). I think this is going to be something I really enjoy — it has the “you can complete a whole project faster” effect you get with kids’ clothes, but is more immediately useful to me personally. I actually impulse-knit a bird today, so technically I can already cross this goal off already, but I want to properly invest in it and get good enough at it to be able gift things (or at least decorate my Christmas tree).

Annnd that’s a wrap on my first year of knitting! I was going to say something here about how it’s been really good for my mental health, a nice alternative to looking my phone and a good thing to do when you’re feeling anxious
 but the reality is that I regularly declare that I hate it, and my girlfriend and I reference this TikTok all the time when we’re knitting. So ya know
 it has its moments. đŸ§¶

🍑

Just Good Shit: 01.16.22

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hi! Here’s what I’ve been up to this week


Reading

Back To Normal Isn’t Enough, Defector.

What to do if you've got covid, Calm Covid.
Really enjoying this newsletter!

Calling Omicron ‘Mild’ Is Wishful Thinking, The Atlantic.

The Real Reason Americans Aren’t Isolating, The Atlantic.

One-Way Masking Works, The Atlantic.

The Agony of Parents With Kids Under 5, Slate.

I’m a Longtime Union Organizer. But I Had Never Seen Anything Like This., NYT. (gift link)

Kyrsten Sinema’s opposition to filibuster reform rests on a myth, Vox.

Hanya’s Boys, Vulture.

6 Ways Fitness Instructors Can Check Their Anti-Fat Bias, SELF.

A Survival Expert Breaks Down the Yellowjackets’ Best and Worst Decisions, Vulture.

Colors: Where did they go? An investigation., Vox.

A Rio Grande Valley Woman Just Broke the U.S. Record for Most Birds Spotted in a Year, Texas Monthly.

They bought a blender. Three weeks later, their cats continue to hold it hostage., Washington Post.

Watching & listening to

Yellowjackets. Drag Race Season 14. “For the Birds,” a very good Radiolab episode. (It really picks up in the second act.) The excellent Holly Madison episode of Power. And a segment from an old episode of Bitch Sesh, in which the hosts read aloud a series of dramatic and chaotic (real-life!) emails from a group of very intense parents planning a teacher appreciation luncheon. (It starts around 11:14 and ends at 36:00 and I’ve listened to it three times in the past week. I just put it on again.)

Have a good week! ✹

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