Just Good Shit: 01.19.20

by Rachel

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Happy long weekend, friends! Here’s what I was up to this week…

Writing

Reading

I finished two very mellow books this week. The first was The Memory Police, which I started back in December. It takes a while to get going, which is why it took me so long to finish it; I actually think it’s better read in one or two sittings where you just power through until it picks up. There were a lot of specific things about it I didn’t love, but I liked the whole, if that makes sense. I read it as a really lovely meditation on loss, grief, aging, and acceptance, but there is also a definite political and/or climate change–related lens. It’s an excellent winter book (reading it while it snowed on Saturday was perfect!) and even though it’s not, like, a tearjerker, it’s a great sad book. (I actually think I would have loved it if I had read it a couple years ago, when I was Extremely Sad.)

The other book I read was Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, which is a very gentle sci-fi short story collection. My favorites were “Story of Your Life” (which is so, so great and also happens to be a good sad read); “Hell Is the Absence of God” (loved!); and “Seventy-Two Letters.” The only one I actively disliked was “Understand,” which felt like reading the Unabomber’s manifesto.

Also:

Her Sorority Sisters Suspected She Was Pregnant. What Did Emile Weaver Know?, ELLE.
Head’s up that this is a very tragic (and fairly gruesome) story about the death of a newborn.

The Black Moms Who Occupied a Vacant House and Became Icons of the Homelessness Crisis, VICE.

How to Organize Your Workplace Without Getting Caught, VICE.

'Cheer' Is An Incisive Look At Injury, Coaching And Competition, NPR.

After My Dad Died, I Started Sending Him Emails. Months Later, Someone Wrote Back, Glamour.

For Bumble, the Future Isn’t Female, It’s Female Marketing, Bloomberg.

I Remain A “Catfish” Queer: On Love, The Midwest, and What We Think We Deserve, Autostraddle.

Meghan Markle visits The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre in Vancouver, Lainey Gossip.

Directors, Let Your Gay Characters Be Gay, NY Times.

Is This Existential Despair, or Do I Just Need to Drink Some Water?, Elemental.

Listening to

I have had the Clairo album “Immunity” on repeat for the past few days; it’s a great match for my cozy January mood (and for all of the above reading).

Have a great Sunday! ❄️


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