(uggggggggh)
That’s better. <3
Category: Inspiration // Cool
Words on the Street: March 24, 2018
Or both. <hair flip>
Carvings on train seats are modern day cave drawings.
Things I’m loving this month
The New York Times obituary series “Overlooked”
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, The New York Times unveiled a pretty genius idea: A series of obituaries for influential women who had been overlooked by history and the iconic paper, which called itself out as follows:
Since 1851, The New York Times has published thousands of obituaries: of heads of state, opera singers, the inventor of Stove Top stuffing and the namer of the Slinky. The vast majority chronicled the lives of men, mostly white ones; even in the last two years, just over one in five of our subjects were female.
Included in the series, called Overlooked, are obits for names you’ll know, like Ida B. Wells and Charlotte Bronte, as well as little known women who deserve their due, like transgender and LGBT rights pioneer Marsha P. Johnson; Emily Warren Roebling, who oversaw the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after her engineer husband fell ill; and the first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace.
Bookmark the interactive page and take your time to digest each woman’s story. It’s worth it.
Quartz Daily Brief
The Daily Brief is the email roundup of the “most important and interesting news from the global economy.” Quartz always makes this kind of news interesting with a unique voice, and The Daily Brief is the curation of both that you didn’t know you’ve been looking for. I’ve learned about everything from international trade to emo Japanese teens and why they matter to the tea market. Subscribe here.
Kinder beauty products
Oy. Plastic. Human cruelty. Animal cruelty. Etc.
I’m trying to be more conscious about my consumption, and I’m happy to report on two beauty products you can buy at your local drug store (read: they’re accessible and inexpensive) that are sensitive to all of the above AND actually work. Because that’s important too…
Love Beauty and Planet is a new-to-me brand of skin and hair products that are packaged in 100% recycled bottles, sourced from sustainable growers who provide fair wage jobs, and vegan/ not tested on animals. The bottles save 900 tons of CO2 per year, and for every ton of of carbon it emits, the company donates to clean-air organizations. That’s cool.
I’ve been using the coconut oil and ylang ylang shampoo and conditioner and I love the smell. They work as well as any other shampoo or conditioner I’ve ever bought.
All the alarming news reports of plastic in our oceans and the sick, sad tale of the exfoliating microbead, which I’d long unknowingly relied upon, has had me searching for a facial exfoliating scrub that is naturally derived but still feels effective. Found one!
Comedian Roy Wood Jr.’s special “Father Figure”
Roy Wood Jr.’s joke about the difference between white patriotic songs (about America) and black patriotic songs (about American cities that are safe for black people) is one of the funniest, most astute observations I’ve heard in a long time. Watch the full special here.
Soccer Mommy’s new album “Clean”
Float away on new sad dreamy poppy punky hooks by Soccer Mommy’s Sophie Allison. I hope they book her on Pitchfork this year.
Words on the Street: March 14, 2018
<3 Funeral Designs <3
“All I Ask Of You” is to throw out your trash. Also, it’s surprisingly sad to see sheet music lost on the street. 🙁
Sick burn.
Though “I heart cock” is a regular staple of bathroom graffiti, this helpful Crock Pot edit is new to me! Great work, team. Plus, we all know Crock Pot could use as much re-branding help as possible.
Well, you’ll live. You just might not enjoy it as much as if you weren’t so worried about it all.
Um, OK, but when is “close”? File under “super unhelpful.”
And these bears look pissed about it. No picnics in da club, lil buds!
I’m sad this place is closed. Not only is Salt ‘n Pepper Diner, like, the cutest diner name, but “Seasoned 1965”? Spicy word choices all around!
Who do you think you are?
Right this way.
You had me at dinner.
I just love this sign. Pho pho-ever!
My list of books to read this month
“Song of a Captive Bird”
By Jasmin Darznik
Poet Forugh Farrokhzad is credited with sparking the feminist movement in Iran, and her poetry has been likened to the mournful style of Sylvia Plath — women ahead of their time trying to fly with broken wings. This new novel uses Farrokhzad’s journals, interviews, poetry, and private writings to fictionally reconstruct the life of this revolutionary woman and writer.
“Birds of Wonder”
By Cynthia Robinson
After Beatrice Ousterhout finds the body of a young girl while out for a walk with her dog, her police detective daughter, Jes, works the case. Jes unravels as the case unfolds. Will she reveal to Beatrice the secret about her father that threatens to undo her completely? (Stay tuned this month for an interview with the author Cynthia!)
“GIRL: Love, Sex, Romance and Being You”
By Karen Rayne
I spotted this inclusive “guide to growing up” for girls in the New Non-fiction section of my library. As I celebrate my 32nd birthday this month, I’d say I’m pretty far past needing some of its advice, which includes sections on male and female anatomy; coming out; accepting rejection and staying safe online; body issues; love and sex; and so much more. That being said, I think there’s so much to learn from Karen Rayne’s thoughtful and informed voice and subject mater. I hope this work colors future discussions about sex education for girls and boys alike.
Happy March/ Best Month Ever! 🙂
Words on the Street: February 20, 2018
“We need tens if you have any.” As seen at Nibbles, a gas station food stand somewhere in Michigan.
New life in a casino. Quite a different crowd than the hay barn days.
A bum machine at FireKeepers Casino. Get it? “Firing”? 😉
(I also like that that needed to explain below “out of order” in case someone didn’t get it…)
PSA: Bath towels can’t swim. From the hotel room at FireKeepers.
Nonla Burger in Kalamazoo. I love all of these words. Including Nonla and Kalamazoo.
Decor at Nonla = old ads. “Take home big profits… with a Snack Kar.” Beat it, food trucks.
“Better than the movies! This young couple partakes of a little front-seat romance. In later years many drive-in theaters came to be known as ‘passion pits,’ as they were the only place teenagers could be alone. Archive Photos”
Passion pits!
So please stop asking the barista, OK?!
Roast coffee. Make cheese. Live free. Window shop.
I’d like to meet this Jose, of the Jose sign.
An artist’s last name that someone should co-opt for a villainous character they’re writing.
This could be read two ways. Luckily the city is not refusing.
Not just haircut. A cool haircut.
Some Cracker Barrel selections. Its got moxie, ya see!
Made U Look. See also: Russian Tea Time.
Doctor’s office sign, after hours. The variety of electric light signage in Chicago is a visual culture in and of itself.
More helpful tips. Have a good week!
My list of books to read this month
“Electric Arches”
By Eve L. Ewing
Eve uses poetry, visual art and narrative prose to explore black girlhood and America’s unique injustices toward people of color, taking readers from the streets of ’90s Chicago where she grew up to a future yet to be determined. How will we determine it?
“The Can’t Kill Us Until The Kill Us”
By Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif is a Columbus kid! He writes about this Midwestern life (with shoutouts to Columbus and Chicago alike), music, and so, so much more in this book published by Two Dollar Radio. I remember watching Hanif perform slam poetry while I lived in Columbus and being blown away at how deftly he could cut a sentence. Keep your heart there. Then fly you forward. My Chicago friends, come see him do an author convo with Jessica Hopper (“The First Collection of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic”) at Women & Children First next month.
“Their Eyes Were Watching God”
By Zora Neale Hurston
This has been on my to-read list forever. Black History Month felt like the perfect time.
“No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep.”
“The Power”
By Naomi Alderman
I recommended this book a few weeks ago, and I’M DOING IT AGAIN. I’m also reading it again.
“Wear No Evil”
By Greta Eagan
The subtitle here explains it all: How to change the world with your wardrobe. Justin and I have instituted a no-clothes-buying policy until spring. April, to be exact. We’ve set a budget and are working on lists of what we want to buy. It’s been surprisingly relieving to have this self-imposed boundary. I am being very thoughtful about what I want to buy in the spring — not just because of the budget we’ve set but because I want to think of my wardrobe as a whole thing, versus a million cheap little pieces I replace on a whim. Having a shopping strategy has forced me to be more thoughtful about where I buy my clothes too. This book explains the basics of sustainable clothing, fabric and shopping, as well as the general arguments for why fast fashion is harming people and the planet. I don’t expect to change the world, but I hope to live a little more thoughtfully.
Happy February. I hope you love it. <3
Five things I’m loving this month
The New York Times Op-Docs
The venerable newspaper is proving its digital storytelling could be as revolutionary as the kind that sealed its print legacy. Three films from the paper’s Op-Docs series were nominated in the 90th Academy Awards’ documentary short subject category. Here’s a convenient roundup of all three short films so you can watch them! They’re around 15 minutes each and are great for a short commute.
True Story
Speaking of great things to do on a commute: I recently ordered a subscription to True Story and am loving it! This pocket-sized mini-mag features one nonfiction piece a month, selected by the editors of Creative Nonfiction magazine (which I also just subscribed to and am kicking myself for not doing it earlier). The longform narrative medium that’s explored in True Story is a cathartic antidote to the numbing (and dumbing) world of 140 characters and bite-me click-bait headlines.
The “Hang the DJ” episode on the new season of Black Mirror
I was perhaps particular to this episode because it is one of the few Black Mirror episodes that didn’t leave me in a state of hives and high anxiety. Or maybe it was because I love the actor Joe Cole so much for his bad-boy-baby-brother role in Peaky Blinders that I think he can do no wrong. Or maybe it was just a happy ending in a dystopian world. Either way, I dig it. It’s on Netflix now.
The Post
The more I learn about the Pentagon Papers and the heroic story about the presses brave enough to publish them, the more I’m surprised this story isn’t more famous than Watergate. Queen Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks are, of course, perfect (and I loooooved Bob Odenkirk and David Cross as hard and bulbous nosed reporters!), but this new movie worth watching for its tense, well-timed drama and presentation of women who pushed the boundaries of business ownership. Oh, and also, you should know why the press matters and what democratic values can be accomplished when newspapers and the public value good journalism. This film is dripping with media morality. I needed that. Warning: The beautifully shot scenes of newsprint presses churning out issues will make my fellow former journalists cry.
“The way they lied. Those days have to be over.”
Francis and the Lights
The new album “Just For Us” is just lovely.
My list of books to read this month
“The Chalk Man”
By C.J. Tudor
Oh shit! Go get this book! Tudor’s debut novel is a hell of a ride. Nothing preachy, nothing to learn. Just a good old heart pumpin’ and jumpin’ psychological thriller.
“Fever Dream”
By Samanta Schweblin
Opposite here: Lots to learn in this baby. Written by an Argentinian writer, I can’t even find it on Goodreads. But my local library recommended it as one of the best of 2017. Indeed, I’ve never had a book affect me physically until I read this one! It’s more than frightening. My skin crawled and itched from about page 20 onward. It had me checking and double bolting the doors. But, alas, the real terror was all around me…
“Why I Am Not A Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto”
By Jessa Crispin
Here’s another one I couldn’t recommend more. I needed to read Jessa Crispin’s argument about how the feminist movement has gotten off course in its attempt to commodify and convince all women they are feminists. I didn’t agree with every point she made, but, as she so convincingly writes, that’s the whole fucking point.
I particularly appreciate her call out of feminist righteousness and how we need to center it back to human rights (ALL human rights, not just female human rights):
“No one talks about toxic femininity, but certainly if we look at certain feminine modes in contemporary culture, it exists. But we would prefer to think of toxic masculinity as innate, and any problems with women’s behavior as being socially created. It’s convenient. Saying or believing that women are special also, by default, dehumanizes men. If we are special because we are caring, then men must be uncaring. If we are special because we are compassionate and nurturing, then men must be emotionally dead and destructive. And if these qualities are innate, then we can dismiss the entire male gender.”
“The Fact of a Body”
By Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
This book is brutal but brilliant. Proceed with caution, but certainly proceed. Marzano-Lesnevich took ten years to write it and it was worth waiting for. She changes the genre of memoir. “The Fact of a Body” intertwines her story of family secrets, hidden crimes and ignored molestation with the story of a child molester she learns about in law school. What I liked about this book was that it questioned the limits of empathy.Is the death penalty humane? Are there limits to empathy? Should victims be allowed to have that? These are tough and personal questions. But it’s a relief to see someone asking them — and asking them in a new way.
“Difficult Women”
By Roxane Gay
I’ve been on such a Roxane Gay kick lately. This month I’m returning to where I first fell in love with her: in her comforting gray worlds of fictional short storytelling. She’s the best at uncovering darkness and enchanting you to look. No really, look at it. See their scars. These tales are for and about those whom a careless world made brave hearted.
“Astrophysics for People in a Hurry”
By Neil DeGrasse Tyson
NDT 4-Life! Neil DeGrasse Tyson makes nerding out about the wonders of the universe fun and fast in his latest book. I like how little it feels in my hand. My hand made of stars. 😉
Words on the Street: January 4, 2018
I did some Google searching and I’m still not sure what this sign means. But it’s definitely attention-getting. Thank you, Charley? I think?
Sometimes it’s hard to see. But love is there.
Remember that!
And that.
When I first read this copy on our monthly electric bill, I thought it meant they would actually come pick up the gross old food containers I have in my fridge or freezer. Ha! Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me to do some cleaning…
This sign hangs on the door to the milking parlor of our family farm.
A helpful reminder on my first commute back to a work gig in the new year. You know, when you don’t even remember what email is.