Just Good Shit: 06.13.21

Whew, what a weekend! Yesterday I spent the day at Good Judy, a newish (and, now, vaxxed-only) queer bar in Park Slope. They closed the block down and had a bunch of amazing drag performances throughout the day. The vibe was just so good — mellow, communal, welcoming, fun. The DJ was playing banger after banger; when he put on “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” we all absolutely lost it.

Today I spent the day at the March for Black Trans Lives, an incredibly moving (and impressively well-organized) event that started with a rally at the Brooklyn Museum and ended in Ft. Greene Park. It centered on trans youth and trans liberation, and featured several young speakers, all of whom were incredible. (I recommend checking out all of the speeches; you can see two of my favorites here and here. NYT also covered it, and there are lots of great photos.) Coming together in solidarity and community, taking to the streets, chanting in unison, protecting each other, and making time to celebrate the fact that we’re still here… it’s just kind of the whole thing, you know?

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

Reading

This week, I read The Killer Wore Leather, a very funny murder mystery that I discovered via this list of queer beach reads that I edited recently!

And a couple other articles worth your time:

The New York Times’ Culture-War Definition of Free Speech, The New Republic.

I Asked My Rapist For $10,000, Lux.

Two Black Students Won School Honors. Then Came the Calls for a Recount., NYT.

I’m using NYT’s new “gift articles” feature to share the NYT links in this post; basically, subscribers can now share 10 articles per month, and if you use a “gift” link like the ones above, it won’t count toward your free article total.

Have a good night! ✊🏽

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Just Good Shit: 06.06.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hiiiii! Tonight’s edition is a little late because I spent most of the day lying tits-up on the gay beach reading Beebo Brinker — truly an ideal way to spend a 90 degree Sunday at the beginning of June!! Here’s what else I had going on this week…

Writing

• How to Have the Queerest Summer of Your God Damn Life if You're Newly Out

And there’s a new ep of Oh, I Like That: Homosexual Tendencies (Let’s Talk About Pride!).

It’s time for me to re-up these

• Pride reading list (updated with some great newer stuff)

• It's OK To Feel Sad In The Summer

Reading

Along with Beebo, I read Casey McQuiston’s new novel, One Last Stop, which is great. And…I didn’t read much else actually, because it was a short week and I was writing/editing a bunch. Also it’s hard to read when you’re playing “Love Again” on repeat!

Have a good night! 🌡

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Just Good Shit: 05.30.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

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

Reading

What the Tulsa Race Massacre Destroyed, NYT.

A Day With New York’s Bird Paramedics, Curbed.

I’m a Vaccinated Transplant Recipient. I Don’t Have Antibodies. Now What?, NYT.

The man who didn’t invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, L.A. Times.

Cruella Is the Girl-Bossification of the Madwoman, Vulture.
OK, we decided to watch this out of morbid curiosity/boredom (it’s been pouring non-stop for three days) and had low expectations…and yet were still shocked by just how bad it was! Totally joyless, incredibly obnoxious, with too many plot holes to count, and it just, like… does not connect to the 101 Dalmatians villain/story at all. So weird!

Cruella shows that Disney is still struggling to get its “first gay character” right, A.V. Club.

If Cruella’s Ending Left You Confused, You’re Not Alone, Slate.

She Put Her Unspent Love in a Cardboard Box, NYT.

Bowen Yang Is Changing the Late-Night Comedy Landscape, Slate.

How to help coworkers who have been in the office all along, Ask a Manager.

Have a good night! 🌥

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Just Good Shit: 05.23.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

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

Writing

• How to Date During Horny Vax Summer if You're Looking for a Relationship

And Sally and I answered some listener questions about friendship on the podcast!

Reading

What Happens When Americans Can Finally Exhale, The Atlantic.

Covid Killed His Father. Then Came $1 Million in Medical Bills., NYT.

My Grandfather Bought a Home in Gaza With His Savings. An Israeli Airstrike Destroyed It., NYT.

Chipotle Is a Criminal Enterprise Built on Exploitation, Jacobin.

Billy Porter Breaks a 14-Year Silence: “This Is What HIV-Positive Looks Like Now”, The Hollywood Reporter.

Sorry, Bella Poarch, this IS ‘Build a B*tch’, The Kids Aren’t Alright.

It Is Unconscionable That The Gay Community Has Ostracized Me Simply Because I Was Born A Cop, Defector.

Eating

This weekend, I got motivated to deal with the ongoing problem of lunch, and I’m returning to sauce theory. I’m doing perfect chicken + roasted vegetables + ready rice, and then I whipped up two sauces from Simply Julia. I already feel so much better about the fact that tomorrow is Monday.

Have a good evening! 🌇

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Just Good Shit: 05.16.21

This week, I celebrated the first anniversary of The Art of Showing Up! My girlfriend got me an amazing (and delicious) cake to celebrate. We also had two (!!) friend hangouts this weekend and watched Showgirls, a movie viewing experience that I…frankly was not prepared for. At one point, we paused, in a state of awe and confusion, to discuss what we had just seen, and she pointed out we were *not even seven minutes into the movie*. It’s nonsensical, baffling, and so shockingly bad, and I kind of already want to watch it again? (Instead we’re watching You Don’t Nomi, the documentary that seeks to figure out why Showgirls…is this way.)

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

Reading

Sara Yasin, my former coworker, is a good follow for news/insight on what is happening in Israel and Palestine right now. And Democracy Now and US Campaign for Palestinian Rights are two good resources (h/t Sally).

Also:

5 People Describe the Emotional and Financial Tolls of House Arrest, VICE.

Texas Is About to Pass a Radical Anti-Abortion Bill and It Should Scare You, Jezebel.

Why We Speak More Weirdly at Home, The Atlantic.

Called by God, Slate.

How To Affirm the People in Your Life Who Use Multiple Sets of Pronouns, them.

And I’ve been reading a galley of The Housewives and really loving it!

Have a good one! 🌷

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Just Good Shit: 05.09.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hi! I’m getting this one out late tonight because we just had our first in-person friend hangout since March 2020! Terri came over for a visit and it was such a treat. I’m simply beaming!

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

Writing

• What to Do if You're Feeling Especially Bad About Your Body Lately

Reading

Bridging the Divide Between the Police and the Policed, The New Yorker.

Grief is overwhelming India. My family was no exception., Washington Post.

What Licensed Massage Therapists And Former NFL Players Have To Say About Deshaun Watson, Defector.

How to Talk to Your Kid About Bodies When You Have an Eating Disorder Yourself, Slate.

An oral history of the Dawson crying GIF and its outsized legacy., Vox.

For the Love of Real Housewives: Casey Wilson on an Obsession That Never Quits, Vanity Fair.

An oral history of Tom Holland's sensational 'Lip Sync Battle' performance, Insider.

What If Everything We Know About Gymnastics Is Wrong?, The New York Times Magazine.

Eboni K. Williams Was Born to Disrupt The Real Housewives of New York City, Vanity Fair.

Starbucks Baristas Are Sick of Your Ridiculous Custom Orders, VICE.

How A 4-Year-Old Brooklyn Boy Bought Nearly 1,000 SpongeBob Popsicles Online, Gothamist.

Finally, today’s a great day to donate to the #FreeBlackMamas National Bail Out fund. ✨

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Just Good Shit: 05.02.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hi, pals! I’m officially vaccinated and ready to party aka have 1/2 of a beer with friends and then go to bed at a sensible hour! I feel beyond grateful to have made it to this point, but the current COVID situation in India is dire. I donated via GiveIndia, and NYT has more ways to help here.

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

Reading

This week, I read Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York, which I highly recommend. It’s true crime, which is usually not my cup of tea (and I had to kind of skim through the descriptions of the crimes), but it really focuses on the victims and their lives as opposed to centering the killer. It’s ultimately a book about community organizing, incompetent/bigoted policing, and gay New York in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and I just thought it was so well done. I also read Crying in H Mart, which I thought was fantastic.

Also:

I Was 12 When We Met, Slate.
Note: this article deals with grooming and rape.

Post-vaccination Inertia Is Real, The Atlantic.

The Slander Industry, NYT.

‘The Relief Outweighed the Regret’, Vulture.
I loved this! (Content note for diet/weight loss talk.)

Pixar’s Troubled “Soul”, The New Yorker.

Is This the End of the Leotard?, Slate.
I will click pretty much any story about athletic uniforms.

The Complicated Reality of Thrift Store 'Gentrification', Jezebel.

Has Online Retail’s Biggest Bully Returned?, NYT.

Ryan O’Connell’s Coming-of-Age Story, Told Through Polaroids, Interview.

Love Weed, Hate the Scaries? This Legal Bud Promises the Mellowest Buzz Ever, VICE.

Can confirm, this stuff is great and I love their branding. BTW, if you shop via this link, we’ll both get $10 off.

What Astrologer Susan Miller Can’t Live Without, NY Mag.

P.S. If you still need Mother’s Day gift ideas, the 2020 Just Good Shit gift guides might be helpful!

Have a good evening! 🍻

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Just Good Shit: 04.25.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

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

Writing

• How to Get a Little Closure on Your Pandemic Year with a Ritual

Reading

I’ve torn through a bunch of books in the past month or so: Made for Love, Black Buck, A Special Place for Women, and Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons.

Also:

Justice, I Guess., The Root.

Scott Rudin, As Told by His Assistants, Vulture.

Michigan’s Covid Wards Are Filling Up With Younger Patients, NYT.

The Nervous Person’s Guide to Re-Entering Society, NYT.

People who have been at work all along are exhausted, Ask a Manager.

Was That Racism?, The Cut.

Philip Roth and the sympathetic biographer: This is how misogyny gets cemented in our culture, Washington Post.

What Facebook Did for Chauvin’s Trial Should Happen All the Time, The Atlantic.

Look at These Safety Color Charts Before You Buy Your Kids' Next Swimsuit, Lifehacker.

My Body Got Me Through the Pandemic. It Doesn’t Need to Be ‘Bikini Ready’, Vogue.

Illustration students design post-pandemic New Yorker covers.

Have a good one! 🌸

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Just Good Shit: 04.18.21

This week, I got my second dose of the vaccine, something I feel incredibly grateful for. Getting such an effective vaccine this early in time feels like a miracle, and I feel very overwhelmed when I sit with the reality of how lucky I am to have made it to this point. It’s impossible not to think about this in the context of not just the 566,452 known COVID deaths in the U.S., but also in the context of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo and George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and so many other people who are no longer with us who should be. I feel hollowed out by all of the gun violence and racism and misogyny in the U.S., and anxious about re-entering a society where, vaccinated or not, it’s pretty hard to feel safe.

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

Writing

On Thursday, I published the big feature I’ve been plugging away at for a while now: Shantay, You Pay: Inside the Heavy Financial Burden of Going On ‘Drag Race’. I enjoyed working on this article so much. Everyone I spoke to for it was wonderful — thoughtful and generous and genuinely funny — and I learned a ton from every single interview I did. (I think my first draft was…11,000 words? lol) It was also really nice, after a year of sameness and sadness, to talk to a bunch of really talented artists about making stuff. I miss making stuff! Anyway, I’m really happy it’s out in the world, and I hope you enjoy reading it!

On another note, there’s a new episode of Oh, I Like That this week: “Breaking Up with Friends and Other Ways to Prepare for a Post-COVID Summer.”

Reading

Police Say A Lot Of Things, Defector.

“Let me tell you how bad the gun problem in this country is.”

How You, Personally, Can Fight the Anti-Trans Bills Surging Across the U.S., VICE.

The Soul of Bravo, Vulture.

The Political Media Is Having a “Gotta Hear Both Sides” Relapse, Slate.

Baby proof: talking to kids about what it means to be transgender or non-binary., Reading My Tea Leaves.

I'd Like This To Stop: Praise For A Promising Young Woman, Ayesha A. Siddiqi.
Perfectly sums up everything I disliked about this movie!

Watching

We’re still watching The Nanny, which I’m enjoying so much. We also watched Operation Varsity Blues on Netflix, which was good/infuriating, and started This Is a Robbery (good so far!) and Couples Therapy (ehhhh??????).

Have a good evening. ✨

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Just Good Shit: 04.11.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

The trees in the park are blooming and spring is in the air! This week, I stress-shopped for summer clothes, watched RHONY Season 12 (absolute chaos!!!), and started The Nanny from the beginning (a joy). Here’s what else I had going on…

Writing

• ‘When Can I Ask the Person I'm Dating to Delete Tinder?’

Reading

“Everyone Just Knows He's an Absolute Monster”: Scott Rudin's Ex-Staffers Speak Out on Abusive Behavior, THR.

I Called Off My Wedding. The Internet Will Never Forget, Wired.

Politicians dread the sting of #KHive, the fervent online fans of Kamala Harris, LA Times.

New York’s vaccine problem is no longer supply. It’s even harder than that, Epicenter NYC.

‘We found a baby on the subway - now he's our son’, BBC.

I Work In A Ritzy Restaurant And I've Seen Some Unbelievable Behavior During COVID, HuffPost.

In Support of Shame, Slate.

Insider Really Isn’t Sending Its Best, Discourse Blog.

How Pies ‘n’ Thighs Survived and Thrived in the Pandemic, GQ.
I love Pies ‘n’ Thighs even though one of the founders once asked me and my girlfriend if we were twins!

Do You Have Nafas, the Elusive Gift That Makes Food Taste Better?, NYT.

I’m a Person of Color and Everyone Is Suddenly Interested in Me—Something Bad Must Have Happened, The New Yorker.

Have a good one! 🌧

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