Did I Take Photos Of My Reading Area Yesterday Because I Think It Looks Pretty? Yes, Because Creating A Stylish AND Comfy Place To Consume Books Fulfills The Hopes Of My 16-Year-Old Nerd Self.
Good morning, poppets! It’s Friday, I have my iced coffee, and my Dad sent me the following tweet this morning and I couldn’t stop laughing.
I think it’s going to be a good day, so let’s get right into these here long reads.
Veronica Chambers, When Blackness Is a Superpower (The New York Times) - In the past few months, after a long day when I just want to veg out and decompress, I’ve found myself opening up Disney+ and diving into the Marvel section. When I was younger, I wasn’t that into superhero comics, but loved the history of the medium and how it has been used for political purposes (if you haven’t read Comic Art Propaganda, you should!) As a WWII history dork, I’ve always liked the first Captain America movie, because who doesn’t love Chris Evans saving the world from Nazi scientists, and I saw the Avengers movies, but it took the pandemic for me to dive fully into the MCU and watch (and rewatch) each of the films, as they’re the PERFECT distraction from everything that’s been going on. And I’ve found the new The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series not only entertaining, but also nuanced and challenging in its examination of race and, well, addiction (saw a great Tik Tok I can’t find now that compared Bucky Barnes’s experience on the show to a relapse.) ANYWAYS, considering this series is built on the back of 80+ years of comics, and that representation in art matters, Chambers looks at how Black artists, writers, show runners and directors are “adding a subtlety to the story lines that make the characters resonate powerfully with fans” while examining difficult themes in an immensely popular medium. Anyhoo, all to say that yes, I am watching the season finale tonight and also yes, I am super bummed that it is, in fact, the finale.
David Siders, ‘It’s almost like insanity’: GOP base continues to lash out over Trump’s defeat (POLITICO) - Haven’t read this yet, but my first reaction to a headline was thinking about how hard it is to deprogram people after they’ve left a cult.
Read these two together, please, and please take a deep breath before you do so (and BTW, that second piece is a perfect demonstration of how toxic masculinity is damaging to all, but especially to men!):
Jennifer Rubin, We should soon stop catering to the vaccine holdouts (The Washington Post)
Jennifer Steinhauer, What Do Women Want? For Men to Get Covid Vaccines. (The New York Times)
Michael Blackmon, The Pandemic Has Made “Summer Body” Pressure Even Worse (BuzzFeed News) - I’m currently planning a week off at the end of May (your girl is burned out, friends) and I’m thinking of doing a solo road trip down the coast. I was looking at hotels to stay in, and had a moment of pause worrying about the weight I’ve gained in quarantine and whether or not I wanted to stay at a place with a pool. Post-pandemic social anxiety is multifaceted, y’all.
Craig Silverman, Ryan Mac, Jane Lytvynenko, Facebook Knows It Was Used To Help Incite The Capitol Insurrection (BuzzFeed News) - Saving this one for this evening when I can read it without my blood pressure impacting my ability to do work today.
Liam Hess, Leslie Jordan Is Here for a Good Time—And a Long Time (Vogue) - And after I read the piece above, I will read this piece as a salve to my weary soul.
You’re all lovely. Be kind to each other, be kind to yourselves, keep wearing that mask cuz you look great in it, and have a restful weekend.
xoxo Amy