Just Good Shit: 09.20.20

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hi, friends. I wish I had something eloquent or helpful to say about RBG’s passing but I’m kind of at a loss for words. But I’ve re-read Rebecca Traister’s latest piece for The Cut a few times now, and I have been thinking a lot about this sentiment in particular:

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg matters, now as much as she ever has, but her survival alone couldn’t have saved us, any more than getting rid of Donald Trump will save us. We are facing something far larger: a desperate, life-or-death fight to rebuild, reimagine, reform (and in some cases raze) enormous apparatuses, including our criminal justice, electoral, health-care, and education systems, labor and capitalism, education, housing, the courts themselves, and, most urgently, the health of our planet. It will call on us to fight as fiercely and with as much determination as Ginsburg herself fought, through her life and career.”

Here’s what else I had going on this week:

Reading

A pandemic, a motel without power and a potentially terrifying glimpse of Orlando’s future, Washington Post.

We Could Lose Roe v. Wade Next Year. What Now?, The Cut.

Housekeepers Face a Disaster Generations in the Making, The New York Times.

Buying Myself Back, The Cut.

What Happened Inside Ed Buck’s Apartment?, The New York Times.

How to track your ballot like a UPS package, Washington Post.

It Took Divorce to Make My Marriage Equal, Glamour.

The Consequences of Your Actions, Design Mom.
Go OFF, Design Mom!! I loved this.

Watching

Becoming on Netflix; The Source Family on Amazon Prime (just OK imo, though three people I trust spoke very highly of it); and more Real Housewives of Potomac.

Donating

This week, I donated to Jaime Harrison, who is running against Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, and Mike Espy, who is running for Senate in Mississippi (where he’d be the first Black senator since 1881). I also have recurring monthly donations set up for Sister District, along with Black and Pink and Food Bank for New York City.

Have a good one. 🤍

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Just Good Shit: 09.13.20

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

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

Writing

• If You’re Already Dreading Winter, Here Are Some Small Ways to Prepare Now

• How to Talk to a Friend Who 'Doesn't See the Point' in Voting This Year

I also contributed to this guide to voting by mail in all 50 states.

Reading

I’m currently reading The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness.

Also:

America Is Trapped in a Pandemic Spiral, The Atlantic.

They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen?, ProPublica.

“9/11 changed my family forever. I'd like to tell you about that day from my family's perspective.”

‘May rent. June rent. Late fees. Penalties.’ Tusdae Barr, on being evicted from her home during the coronavirus crisis, The Washington Post.

The Electoral College Will Destroy America, The New York Times.

Every COVID-19 Death Has Devastated a Family, Slate.

I’m Unemployed and Trans. Getting the Help I Need Has Been a Nightmare, them.

N.Y. Will Move Homeless Men From Liberal Neighborhood After Backlash, The New York Times.
This makes me so fucking angry.

Coronavirus, Charity, and the Trolley Problem, Crooked.
This funny and moving essay about donating bone marrow during a pandemic is one of the best things I’ve read in recent memory.

The DMV Reviewed Thousands of Hilarious Vanity Plate Applications Last Year. These Are Our Favorites, Los Angeles Magazine.

Watching & listening to

We’ve been watching The Vow and Real Housewives of Potomac (starting with Season 2 — it’s so funny and fun to watch). I also highly recommend You’re Wrong About’s Tuskegee syphilis study episode.

Other shit

• I recently got a lap desk ($40 from Amazon) and am thrilled with this purchase; I wish I’d had this ages ago. (Bonus: this one is wide enough that I can actually use my mouse with it!!)

• I’m transitioning to fall with this cozy blue sweatshirt ($29.90 at Uniqlo).

• We’ve been doing this beginner bodyweight workout for the past two weeks and it’s just what I needed in a home workout — challenging but doable, and fairly quick.

Have a good night! ✨

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Just Good Shit: 09.06.20

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hi! Here’s what’s new around here this week…

Writing

• The Biggest Sorority Insurer Made a COVID Waiver for Members to Sign

On the blog

• Important: pumpkin butterscotch cookies

I was also quoted in a New York Times article about being there for a friend who just lost their job.

Reading

The Rent Eats First, Even During a Pandemic, The New York Times.

The Eco–Yogi Slumlords of Brooklyn, The Cut.

On Witness and Respair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic, Vanity Fair.

Dolezal 2.0 — The Audacity of Cosplaying as Black, Bitch.

Schlitterbahn’s Tragic Slide, Texas Monthly.
A horrifying longread from a couple of years ago that I’d never read.

Off the Rack (comic), The Nib.

Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy Answer Every Question We Have About Best in Show, Vulture.

Watching & listening to

Class Action Park on HBO, which is absolutely worth a watch — I gasped so many times. Also this CNN segment about evictions in Houston. And I really enjoyed the Stepford Wives episode of You’re Wrong About.

Have a good evening! 🍪

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Important: pumpkin butterscotch cookies

Now that we’re all simply proceeding as though it’s fall, outside temperature be damned, it seems like a great time to re-up this old recipe, which is so goddamn good. I posted it to my old old blog when I was living in Texas many moons ago, and then to my old blog in 2017…and now I’m posting it here, because it’s that important! (I *believe* I got it from the Libby’s Pumpkin website way back when, but I’m not 100% sure.)

The cookies are a big hit every time I make them, and while I typically bake them in October as a Halloween treat, they’re also great for Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving/whatever (in normal years).

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola or corn oil

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
   

2. Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl and set aside.
   

3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer.
   

4. Add the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla and mix until blended. It will turn the color of Halloween and smell like cake batter.
   

5. Add the flour mixture slowly, until it is thoroughly blended, and the batter is thick.
   

6. Stir in the butterscotch morsels.
   

7. Line two baking sheets with wax paper and spray with cooking spray (or just use a silicone baking mat).
   

8. Using a small spoon, scoop globs (there’s no other word for it — you’ll understand if you make them) of the dough onto the lined sheets. ***Do not make the rounds too big! I did that at first, and ended up with massive pumpkin pillows. It still happens to be occasionally. Try to keep them neat and cute.***
   

9. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 16 minutes.
   

10. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for five minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. 🍁

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Just Good Shit: 08.30.20

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hello! Here’s what I had going on this week…

On the blog

• Go on, live a little — get yourself the giant pasta-shaped garlic peeler

Writing

• How to Talk to a Friend Whose Posts Have You Worried

Reading

This week, I put down the galley of The Lying Life of Adults so I could read Finding Freedom, the new book about Meghan and Harry. The heart wants what the heart wants!! Finding Freedom reads like an Elin Hildebrand novel (in a good way) and while the book, like, absolutely needs to calm down in some places, I really liked it overall.

Also:

What if It All Goes Wrong?, Slate.
Election worst-case scenarios.

We’ve Seen New York’s White Flight Before, The Atlantic.

‘How is this possible? What are the odds?’ The Graveson family, on what the coronavirus has done to them, Washington Post.

Your ‘Surge Capacity’ Is Depleted — It’s Why You Feel Awful, Elemental.

Tune in, drop out, Rest of World.
“What constitutes being ‘alone’ can be fuzzy, but it ultimately comes down to the physical and psychological boundaries one draws around oneself. Honjok might partake in leisure activities alone, maintain a single-person household, avoid a workplace or office setting, limit social circles, abstain from sex or romantic relationships, or reject marriage or children.”

Dear Fuck-Up: I Think I Ruined My Ex's Life, Jezebel.
”There are certain relationships in which one person holds so much sway over the other that the obligation to do the right thing lies solely with that party.”

15 California Getaways, Design Love Fest.
If you want to play make-believe.

A Reminder to Enfold Yourself in Small Comforts, The New York Times.

Also! If you’ve been wanting to learn to knit, you should pre-order my friend Alanna’s new book Knit a Hat: A Beginner's Guide to Knitting, which will be out September 8.

Have a good evening! 🧶

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Go on, live a little — get yourself the giant pasta-shaped garlic peeler

When my girlfriend bought this giant fake piece of penne from GreatBigStuff.com — along with some bowtie pasta pot grippers — I expected it to merely be decorative. That alone would be great! But much to my delight, it’s also a surprisingly effective garlic peeler.

Peeling garlic by hand is a fairly annoying task, and putting it in a plastic tube — that, it cannot be overstated, looks like a giant piece of penne — and rolling it around is a nice alternative that doesn’t take up a lot of kitchen space.

I highly recommend it! Get it from GreatBigStuff.com for $19. 🍝

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Just Good Shit: 08.23.20

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

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

On the blog

• My favorite cloth face masks

Reading

‘I’m sorry, but it’s a fantasy’ — Jeff Gregorich, superintendent, on trying to reopen his schools safely, The Washington Post.

I had COVID-19, and these are the things nobody tells you, LA Times.

This Terrifying Economic Crisis Will Make Cities Better, In These Times.

This hed is not great; the article is actually about how rich people fleeing NYC isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The Look Book Goes to the Jamaica Post Office, The Cut.

I Added One Tiny (Free) Thing to My Closet and Instantly Started Decluttering My Clothes, Apartment Therapy.

This Amazingly Simple Google Docs Hack Is a Game-Changer, Mental Floss.

Have a good Sunday! 🍒

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My favorite cloth face masks

Over the past five months, I, like a lot of people, have tried a bunch of different cloth face masks. Some have turned out to be better than others, so I thought I’d share the ones that I like the best and that are holding up well!

A couple top-level notes, for context:

• When I’m venturing out, I’m doing fairly low-risk activities: taking my dog out, going for walks in the park, taking trash to the trash room, and picking up packages from the front desk (which is generally possible to do at a distance). If you’re spending more time in close proximity to and/or indoors with people who aren’t in your household, these might not be the best options.

• Not all of my favorites are three-ply or have a hydrophilic outer layer (which I learned about when working on this article), but those are features I’m looking for as I buy new ones.

• I generally pair my masks with a filter (more on those later), so that adds another layer/improves the effectiveness.

• Since we started buying masks, my girlfriend and I have discovered that I have a BIG FACE (I mean, I sort of already knew that) and she has a ˢᵐᵃˡˡ ᶠᵃᶜᵉ so our mask preferences are fairly different. She prefers masks that have ear loops with adjusters and is not a fan of behind the head elastic, whereas pretty much all masks fit me well. Some of the ones below work for both of us, which is a nice bonus, but others really only work for me.

So! With all that said, here are the cloth face masks that I like a lot:

Stark’s face masks

These are a fairly recent addition that I thiiiink I found via Instagram ad, and they are great! We now have four in rotation and I really like them. These masks have the adjustable ear loops, three layers, and the lilac is so nice. (It also comes in several other colors, and they are now making a slightly smaller option for smaller faces.) Get one from Stark’s for $12.95.

BaubleBar face masks

These are another recentish addition that I immediately ordered more of after a couple wears. They are soft/comfortable, they have the adjustable ear loops, and I like the pattern options. Get a two-pack from BaubleBar for $12.

Amalfii face masks

This was actually the very first mask I bought, and they’ve been great! They are full-coverage with a fairly tight seal, and they’ve held up very well in the wash. Get a three-pack from Amalfii for $30 (multiple colors available).

Gir.co filters

I came across these filters when I bought the masks that require them this spring. While I like the masks quite a bit (they are lightweight and can be sterilized in the stove, microwave, or dishwasher), I like the filters even more. I usually order three packs at a time and they always ship/arrive quickly. Get a ten-pack for $10 from Gir.co.

Wear a mask! Over your nose!! Please!!! 😷

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Just Good Shit: 08.16.20

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hi! Here’s what I have for you this week…

On the blog

• I've finally achieved my lifelong dream of owning a postal scale

• My beach birthday in quarantine

Writing

• What to Say if a Kid Asks You What 'WAP' Means

• The Workplace Behavior on 'Selling Sunset' Is Not OK, Right? (Collab with Alison Green of Ask a Manager!)

Reading

The Scramble to Pluck 24 Billion Cherries in Eight Weeks, The New York Times.

The Plan That Could Give Us Our Lives Back, The Atlantic.

The Afflictions of the Comfortable, The American Prospect.

Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed, The New York Times.

We Asked a Gyno About ‘WAP’, Vulture.

Watching & listening to

My friend Sally recommended Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (on Hulu), which is horrifying but incredibly compelling. I also listened to the “Wayfair and Human Trafficking Statistics” episode of You’re Wrong About, which is a good companion to the NYT cherries story I linked to. And I loved listening to my friends Alisha and Caroline chat in the most recent episode of Gee Thanks, Just Bought It!

Eating

We had Summer Shrimp Scampi With Tomatoes and Corn from NYT Cooking, and really liked it. (We used canned corn, and it was actually great.) I’m also looking forward to turning some summer tomatoes into Nora Ephron’s cold tomato sauce soon. Also, two grocery purchases/treats that I highly recommend: Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (the little five-count is nice) and frozen mozzarella sticks.

Have a good Sunday! 🦞

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My beach birthday in quarantine

For my 35th birthday last week, my girlfriend threw a beach party for the two of us at home. The theme was “cool 90s beach/shells/Enchantment Under the Sea” + my Animal Crossing beach, which has a pastel rainbow ombré theme.

She went all out with lots of inflatables and several outfit changes (including an outfit for Chuck), all of which she managed to keep under wraps until my birthday.

The morning of, I was sequestered in the bedroom for an hour or so while she set up. At one point, she cracked the door open and handed me breakfast and a bikini T-shirt, and told me to “dress for a day at the beach.”

When she told me I could come out a little while later, she had transformed the apartment with two giant pink shells floats, palm trees, flamingos, beach balls, and rainbow ombré streamers. . There was a beach scene on the TV, “Girl from Ipanema” was playing, and there were bubbles wafting out from a bubble machine (!!!) in the kitchen.

A blended painkiller.

Julia Turshen’s “Happy Wife, Happy Life” cake + “tan lines” Fancy Sprinkles.

I think my favorite detail was the airbrushed T-shirts my gf ordered from Etsy for us to wear in the evening “on the boardwalk.” The T-shirts had a beach scene + both of our names (essentially this one, but heart-shaped). We wore them for a Google Hangout with some friends (where everyone came dressed to theme, another very good surprise).

Overall, it was a lovely and fun day/weekend, despite everything going on in the world right now.

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