Just Good Shit: 01.24.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

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

On the blog

• A small nice new year thing: a house journal

Reading

An Incompetent Authoritarian Is Still a Catastrophe, The Atlantic.

Let's Not Become a Bunch of Panicky Reactionaries, In These Times.

Cori Bush: Can She Bring the Movement for Black Lives to Congress?, Teen Vogue.

My Life Sewing T-Shirts for 26 Cents an Hour, The New Republic.

My ‘Long Covid’ Nightmare: Still Sick After 6 Months, NYT Magazine.

Mary Retta on the B.S. that is celebrating Black people in law enforcement in order to convince us that police reform is possible.

Gay Stories for Straight Allies, Utopian Drivel.

Improve Your Life With These Tiny Chores, NYT.

The Corny Comforts of the Biden Inauguration, GQ.

PSA: Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ Is About Jews Having Sex, Hey Alma.

“I Think My Gmail Has Crashed”: The Teacher Who Made Bernie Sanders’ Mittens on Watching Them Go Viral, Slate.
This is so charming.

Did everyone spontaneously applaud Amanda Palmer in a Havelock North cafe? A Spinoff investigation, The Spinoff.

Watching & listening to

My girlfriend and I listened to Serial Season 3 and immediately followed it with Nice White Parents, both of which are really, really good. We’ve also been enjoying the current season of The Challenge.

Have a good one! ☀️

🍑

Sign up to get these links each week in a newsletter.

A small nice new year thing: a house journal

Here’s a little thing my girlfriend and I started at the beginning of the month: a house journal. We took an extra notebook I had and started using it for making shared lists, like movies we want to watch, recipes we’ve made, things we’re planning, etc. We’re also doing one weekly entry, on Sunday nights, where we do a quick recap list of the week’s highlights — shows we watched, purchases, any good things that happened, etc.. It’s a super low-stakes way to do pandemic journaling, and also just practical. I still have my own journal for my to-do lists, knitting projects, diary entries, etc., but I’m finding it really nice to have a singular place to document and keep track of things this year. ✍🏽

🍑

Just Good Shit: 01.17.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hello, friends! Here’s what I’ve got for you this week.

My shit, elsewhere

Sally and I dropped a new episode of Oh, I Like That: “And Now for Something Light and Fun: Home Safety Tips.”

I also keep forgetting to link to a couple other recentish podcast appearances: I talked planners and journaling on Best Laid Plans, and shared my best tips for logging off with Carolyn Kylstra on Checking In.

Also, it seems like a good time to re-up this post from last January: Reading list: Race, white supremacy, and anti-Black racism in America.

Reading

The Capitol Rioters Weren’t ‘Low Class’, The Atlantic.

Only Democracy Reform Can Stop Trumpism, Crooked Media.

Nebraska meatpackers breathe for hours through blood-soaked masks. This can’t keep happening., Washington Post.

Why Aren’t We Wearing Better Masks?, The Atlantic.

How MAGA Extremism Ends, The Atlantic.

“All Bets Are Off the Next Few Weeks”, Slate.

The Dream Job That Wasn’t, The New Republic.

Sea Shanty TikTok Is on Fire, Slate.

“The Sopranos” for Women Is Just … “The Sopranos”, Inside Hook.

'Why Do I Spend Weeks Avoiding Tasks That Will Take Me 10 Minutes to Do?', VICE.
I have been thinking about this article…pretty much every single day.

Life shit

Utilizing the wisdom from this Swole Woman column, I’ve been getting back to working out regularly! I’m doing a Nerdfitness kettlebell workout twice a week (which is, for me, a less overwhelming/more attainable goal for the first month or so) and the foldable exercise bike we ordered arrived this weekend! I had my own spin bike at home for years and loved it, and I’m really looking forward to using this one. Between the workouts and my nascent knitting habit and the fact that my family members are getting vaccinated (!!!), I’m feeling pretty OK overall at the moment, despite *gestures around tiredly* everything.

Have a good night and a safe week! 🥽

🍑

Sign up to get these links each week in a newsletter.

Just Good Shit: 01.10.21

via @ReverendWarnock on Twitter

Hi, pals. Here’s what I’ve got for you this week…

Reading

The Only Strategy Left for Democrats, The Cut.
“Govern like you won, winners.”

The Man Who Saw Yesterday’s Coup Attempt Coming Is Only Surprised It Wasn’t Much Worse, GQ.

The American Abyss, NYT.

They Were Out for Blood, Slate.

‘Senate Being Locked Down’: Inside a Harrowing Day at the Capitol, NYT.

Nazis Stormed The Capitol. Why Are People Afraid To Call Them That?, Refinery29.

I Don’t Know What The Answer Is, But It’s Definitely Not More Cops, Defector.

A Domestic Terrorism Law Can’t Solve Right-Wing Violence, NY Mag.

How SoulCycle lost its soul, The Goods / Vox.

On the internet, anything can be a lesbian, Xtra.

The Man Who Turned Credit-Card Points Into an Empire, NYT Magazine.

Is ‘The Bachelor’ Just a Christian Dating Show Now?, Alma.

Rookie’s Popular ‘Life Skills’ Column Is Back, The Cut.

The Best Two-Player Board Games, According to Experts, The Strategist.

Why Is it So Hard to Design a Good Can Opener?, Curbed.

For An Easier Parchment Experience, Do the Crumple, Epicurious.
Genius.

Watching

None of the footage I saw from the Capitol on Wednesday captured the terror quite like this Chris Hayes segment — I think, in part, because of the incredibly chilling audio that is present throughout it.

Meanwhile, if you want something cathartic, definitely watch Joe Scarborough’s rant, along with this video.

Be safe and well this week. ✨

🍑

Sign up to get these links each week in a newsletter.

Just Good Shit: 01.03.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

A couple hours ago, my girlfriend asked me what I was going to include in my newsletter today and I said “just a bunch of little articles,” which was apparently not quite as specific of an answer as she was looking for.

Anyway, here are all your little articles!

On the blog (ICYMI)

• This tinsel is a pretty good way to spend $15

• The best things I read in 2020

• The best things I published in 2020

And there’s a new episode of the podcast this week!

Reading

The Mutated Virus Is a Ticking Time Bomb, The Atlantic.

Some Covid Survivors Haunted by Loss of Smell and Taste, New York Times.

The Year When Everyone Bullied Their Mayor, The New Republic.

‘Such a Personal, Private Thing’: Rethinking the Home Pregnancy Test, New York Times.

Rev. William Barber on Greed, Poverty and Evangelical Politics, New York Times.

The Questions of Male Consent That Puncture Both Fantasy Worlds of 'Bridgerton' and 'Wonder Woman 1984', Pajiba.

Wonder Woman’s Middle Eastern Stereotypes Should Have Stayed in the 1980s, Slate.

Watching

We’re halfway through The Flight Attendant, which is great so far, and have also been binging At Home with Amy Sedaris. Also The Reagans, which is infuriating but really well done. And Wonder Woman 1984 and Bridgerton, both of which were…bad (and not in a fun way imo).

Have a good week! 🗓

Sign up to get these links each week in a newsletter.

🍑

The best things I published in 2020

Photo of laptop by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

As the year comes to an end, I wanted to share some of the work I’m most proud of! Here are some of my faves:

• The Answer to All Your Social Distancing Loophole Questions Is No

• A Beginner's Guide for 'Straight' Women Who Want to Act on Queer Feelings

• How to Talk to Relatives Who Care More About Looting Than Black Lives

• Self-Care Tips for Black People Who Are Really Going Through It Right Now

• 'RHOP' and the Hypocrisy of 'Your Behavior Is Bad for Black Women'

• 11 Tiny Pride Floats to Help You Celebrate This Year

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

• Love/Hate Reads: 'He's Just Not That Into You,' Revisited

And my book! 💻

Earlier: The best things I read in 2020.

🍑

The best things I read in 2020

Photo of phone by Mel Poole on Unsplash

In my mind, I read very little this year besides news articles, tweets, and Notes app apologies from canceled girl bosses. But when I checked my “best of 2020” tag in Pocket over the weekend, I was surprised/happy to discover that I actually read quite a bit of good shit on the internet this year! So here, in no particular order, are my 2020 favorites:

This Is Not the Apocalypse You Were Looking For, Wired.

Do DC Renters Who Are Evicted Know About Their Court Dates?, DCist.

‘I apologize to God for feeling this way.’, Washington Post.

The Soft Butch That Couldn’t (Or: I Got COVID-19 in March and Never Got Better), Autostraddle.

Coronavirus, Charity, and the Trolley Problem, Crooked Media.

The N95 shortage America can’t seem to fix, Washington Post.

A Failure, But Not Of Prediction, Slate Star Codex.

What Did Emile Weaver Know?, ELLE.
Content note: this is a pretty harrowing article about the death of a newborn.

Tear Gas Doesn’t Deploy Itself, The New Republic.

You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument, The New York Times.

My Mustache, My Self, NYT Magazine.

The Consequences of Your Actions, Design Mom.

The Darkness Where the Future Should Be, The New York Times.

How hard will the robots make us work?, The Verge.

Eating for Two, The Cut.

Learning to Swim Taught Me More Than I Bargained For, NYT Magazine.

Applying for Unemployment Is My New Full-Time Job, The Cut.

How Salon Shutdowns Are Disrupting Black Women's Haircare, Jezebel.

Dear Fuck-Up: My Close Friend Is Being Radicalized On the Internet and I Don’t Know What to Do, Jezebel.

Apparently, I’m Too Fat to Ski, The Cut.

The very real, totally bizarre bucatini shortage of 2020, Grub Street. ✨

Also: The best things I published in 2020.

🍑

This tinsel is a pretty good way to spend $15

One of the unexpected winners of the at-home birthday celebration I threw for my girlfriend a couple of weeks ago was the pack of metallic tinsely curtains ($15.99 for two silver and two gold on Amazon) I bought.

Each curtain is approximately the width of a door and fairly long/tall, with a horizontal adhesive strip at the top; I put three over the window/door to the terrace, and one over the bedroom door, and they genuinely made the space feel different and celebratory.

In fact, we liked them so much that we got a second pack to use for the “office holiday party” that we had on Tuesday night.

The curtains flutter and reflect light in a really nice way, and you actually don’t need to do anything else to make them shine. But if you want to take things up a notch, you could turn on a mini LED party light. (We used the one that came in a company swag bag my girlfriend received a couple of months ago, but you can get a similar one for $16.99 on Amazon.)

Even though you can see some window showing behind the curtains in these photos, they look great and plenty thick IRL. (But if you wanted to make them appear thicker, you could easily double them up.)

We also kept them up for our “supercouch” (aka air mattress inflated in front of the couch) movie day.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much delight/novelty the curtains provided; in this bleak year, it’s always nice when a small thing actually helps quite a bit. If you’re a New Year’s Eve person and want to do something to mark the occasion while also being safe, or if someone in your household has a birthday coming up, these are totally worth it.

Get the gold and silver four-pack from Amazon for $15.99. (They also come in a bunch of other colors, like this pretty rose gold.) ✨

🍑

Just Good Shit: 12.20.20

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

I’m back with the penultimate newsletter of 2020! You’ll get one more from me this year, FYI, but it might not come next Sunday night (because I may or may not get around to putting together all of my favorites from this year by this time next week).

For now, here’s what I’ve been up to…

On the blog

• Just a bunch of Christmas shit I’m into right now

There’s also a new episode of the pod this week. And I was thrilled to guest-host this week’s episode of NPR’s Life Kit! I talked to Dr. Andrea Bonior about getting through the holidays this year.

Writing

• How to Make Your Pandemic Holiday Feel Like a HOLIDAY

• What to Do When Your Parent Is Enabling Your Sibling's Addiction

Reading

‘I Trust Science,’ Says Nurse Who Is First to Get Vaccine in U.S., NYT.

My Mommies and Me, JewishCurrents.

My Hell on a Cargo Ship I Could Never Leave Because of COVID, Slate.

Weddings to Die For, NY Mag.
(Also read the original Texas Monthly story!)

How the School Reopening Debate Is Tearing One of America’s Most Elite Suburbs Apart, Slate.

Kids Are Watching Pornography. Here’s How to Talk About It., NYT.

Who Can Guess What Jeffrey Toobin Did Wrong? (Not So Fast, Malcolm Gladwell), Defector.
”Secondly, when you decide to open your pants and masturbate in the middle of a work meeting (note: never do this), that super duper is not a ‘private’ moment. That is the middle of a work meeting, and somebody has decided to haul their sex junk out and fiddle with it in the middle of the work meeting.”

The legal titan and the ‘Real Housewife’: The rise and fall of Tom Girardi and Erika Jayne, LA Times.

What’s It Like to Be Directed By Nancy Meyers?, Vulture.

I Got High and Made Croissants Like Meryl Streep, Vulture.

Crying into a white cashmere throw, LaineyGossip.
Spot-on analysis of the Hallie Meyers-Shyer mess.

An Oral History of the World’s Biggest Coupon, NYT.

The Prom Isn’t the Gift to Queer Teens It Thinks It Is, Vulture.

James Corden Should Have Been Banned from The Prom, Vanity Fair.

Beeswax tapers FAQ, Reading My Tea Leaves.

Ways to Create Holiday Magic, Shutterbean.

Have a lovely night and a very cozy week! 🎅🏽

Sign up to get these links each week in a newsletter.

🍑

Just a bunch of Christmas shit I’m into right now

Hi! Even though Christmas is only a few days away and a lot of your planning/shopping/decorating is likely done, I thought I’d share some of the festive recipes/playlists/DIY projects I’m into right now!

Decorations

I bought the wooden Advent spiral above from OakTree Vibrations on Etsy and it’s been such a nice addition to our home! (It looks like the shop is currently closed FYI.) Figuring out the right size candles was a Whole Thing, but I’m currently using these white candles with a little ball of clay stuck under each one to hold them in place.

I’m also very, very, very happy with my bay leaf wreath, which I’ve wanted for years.

This is my go-to method for lighting a tree; it works perfectly every time.

Here’s a Twitter thread of all my favorite Christmas aesthetics.

If you want some additional inspiration/dreaminess, look no further than this Swedish blog.

And if you want to go in an entirely different direction (read: kitsch), I cannot recommend these gold and silver “curtains” ($15.99 for a set of four from Amazon) enough! I bought them as part of the decor for my girlfriend’s birthday last week and she loved them — they totally transformed our space and made it look like a cozy/cool bar. Pair it with a mini LED party light (which we had lying around from a company swag bag, but you can get one for $16.99 on Amazon) on the red/green setting and you’ll be in business.

Finally, a tiny tip from me to you: If you have a smart plug, put your Christmas tree on it! It’s really nice to be able to turn it off from bed at night, especially if you live alone — it’s like having someone tuck you in.

Things to make

Some fun things from my IG saved items: googly eyes on gifts, a gift wrap gift bow, peppermint sparkle, a Caprese candy cane board, and baked gruyère with garlic and herb (recipe here).

Also: how to transform a Christmas garland, how to make a very cute Christmas tree train, and how to make a gift bow out of newsprint. I’m also planning to make tissue paper stars and eggnog snickerdoodles this week.

Holiday entertainment

TV: I’ve been absolutely obsessed with NYT Cooking’s Christmas cookie videos; they are all so soothing and nice! I also love 2019’s cookie medley; Susan Spungen feels like a real life version of Meryl Streep’s character in It’s Complicated. We’ve also been watching old holiday themed Barefoot Contessa episodes, which is delightful.

Movies: Jingle Jangle is great! Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, however, is unwatchable. And I’m due for a Carol rewatch. On Wednesday, we’re going to inflate the air mattress in front of the couch (basically turning the living room into one large soft square) and cover everything in Christmas/winter blankets, and then we’re going to watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf, and a couple other classics.

Books: David Sedaris’s “SantaLand Diaries” is a classic. And I’m really enjoying re-reading Elin Hildebrand’s Winter Street novels.

Holiday vibes

Here are some of my favorite Christmas playlists and albums:

• Santa Claus is a Black man by Aminatou Sow

• Noel by Caity Weaver

• Jazz & Blues Christmas

• French Christmas

• Songs For Christmas — Sufjan Stevens

• Simply Christmas — Leslie Odom Jr.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas

I definitely need to make a new mega Christmas playlist at some point soon because the one I spent several years curating has been lost in the abyss of iTunes on old computers.

I’m also still drinking a lot of hot chocolate, and VanLeeuwen’s peppermint stick ice cream is currently on my grocery list.

Not all yule logs are created equal! After trying a bunch, I’ve found that I like this fireplace best. I also love this soothing snowy scene.

Finally, here are some old pieces of mine/that I edited that you might enjoy right now:

• Why Miniature Christmas Villages Are Such A Big Thing

• 37 Holiday Self-Care Tips For Anyone Who Is Kind Of Not OK RN

• 4 Ways To Easily Remove Stubborn Price Stickers From Gifts

• How to Make a Holiday Family Photo Book

• How to Spend Christmas Alone

• How to Make Socially Distanced Holidays Actually Feel Special

• How to Make Your Pandemic Holiday Feel Like a HOLIDAY

• How to Be Gracious About a Truly Horrible Gift

• Great Gifts and How to Give Them

• AITAWICTG (Am I the Asshole When It Comes To Gifts)?

And there’s still time to send gifts/gift cards to trans young people in need via @transanta! ✨

🍑