The Pandemic Has Ruined My Ability To Comprehend Social Cues, And Other Things I Mutter At My Plants In The Morning.
Howdy, friends! Yesterday I took a mid-day break to walk in Crissy Field with my Rabbi - it was a beautiful San Francisco spring day, the sky blue and the Golden Gate Bridge resplendent, and I was reminded of why I love this city so much, despite its numerous and frustrating foibles. Also, nothing helps mid-week anxiety like a good conversation with a brilliant woman and friend. So consider this your permission to go outside today, in whatever way you are able. And if you can’t leave your home, permission to gaze out the window for as long as you damned well please.
TO THE INTERNET!
I regret to inform you that the aforementioned Shrimp Tail guy was Milkshake Ducked. And if you understand what that means, join me in attempting to log off your phones and walk into the sea. I retract yesterday’s subject line request for an MBMBAM crossover, because my good good boys are too pure and I refuse to have them tainted in that way.
Sometimes, I feel like The Goods at Vox is just reading my mind and spilling it on paper, especially as I gaze over at the various lotions, potions and clothing purchases I’ve recently made: “How online shopping became unavoidable.” I mean, if you’re not buying gentle facial cleanser because of a semi-funny viral video, are you even 2021ing? Also, I feel personally attacked by this statement: “Online, we exist in a state of ambient shopping; either actively looking to buy something, or being told to by targeted ads or influencers.”
Shira Ovide’s March 19 NYT On Tech newsletter included reader contributions on how technology has helped us all get through the past year. How lovely to reflect on the tools that have helped keep us human.
UGH: “Avaaz found that the top 100 stories which had actually been “debunked by fact-checkers working in partnership with Facebook” still racked up 162 million views” THAT’S TOO MANY VIEWS. Facebook Missed 10.1 Billion Opportunities to Stop Juicing Hoaxes and Propaganda in 2020, Study Finds (Gizmodo)
Oh, FFS: “Andrew Cuomo’s family members were given special access to covid testing, according to people familiar with the arrangement” (Washington Post)
And finally, you freaking love to see it: Trump Hotels Were Quietly Removed From The Travel Industry’s Most Important Luxury Network (Forbes, ht Mum of the Missive)
That’s it, that’s all. Stay safe, stay masked, and be kind to each other.
xoxo Amy