Oh, hello!
Long time no talk…I’m sorry for letting this sit dormant for months. I have been very busy covering Ms. Rona, dealing with life and trying to find a new normal.
I have re-discovered my desire to be productive! So, I’ve been using these cool guides to do something meaningful and stop wasting time. I started drafting a guide to guides for myself. Thee are just so many to keep track of. Then, I realized, I can make this for the whole internet! So, let this guide be a guide to all those fucking coronavirus guides floating around:
What to watch
My fabulous employer, the Los Angeles Times, asked 51 experts on watch while in quarantine.
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu) is not included on this list; perhaps because it publish the day the show dropped. I highly HIGHLY recommend everyone watch it. It’s about motherhood, friendship, young love, sex and race. Most content that deal with race and racism is written through a white lens. Unless it’s FUBU, it almost always focuses on the journey of white person A to learning how to be a better white person. This show is different because it does not do that. The show highlights how Black people are not given the opportunity to “make good choices” while privileged whites are given good choices.
Other shows I’m watching: The Plot Against America (HBO), Sex and the City (HBO), Glee (Netflix) and
On the movie front, I’ve been watching tons of sad, dystopian flicks amd DCOM flicks! The list includes: !!!!!!!!!!!!!PARASITE!!!!!!!!!!! (Hulu)Contagion (Hulu), New York Minute (IMBDtv) Outbreak (Netflix), Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century and The Color of Friendship (!!!!!!!!) (both Disney+).
I’m such a nerd. I LOVE LOVE LOVE documentaries! Here are a few I’m watching:
Elephants (Disney+), America in Color (Amazon Prime until April 30), American Experience: New York (Amazon Prime) and Tiger King* (Netflix)
*This miniseries is batshit crazy. I couldn’t take my eyes off this beautiful shit show. But, despite no footage in the documentary, I knew in my gut Joe the Exotic was racist. How? Because I’m Black and I know these things! My suspicions were confirmed via this video and then again by the director who admitted to censoring Joe’s racism. It’s wrong to hide parts of people to make them palatable to a wider audience. Let viewers see people as they are and draw their own conclusions. Presenting Joe as something he is not is sinister.
More guides on what to watch:
Girl’s Night In things to watch list, the New York Times guide and BuzzFeed’s so-called Hidden Gems guide.
Also, many of my friends are discovering how addictive TikTok is! I am watching that nonstop….I’ve had to put a time limit (of 1 hour) on both my work and personal iPhones. On Wednesday morning, I blew through my work phone time limit by 7:48a.m.
Please enjoy this TikTok. ITS SO FUNNY:
What to listen to
If you’re like me, you’re spending a lot of time in the kitchen or in your space Marie Kondo-ing your shit. Well, it’s important to have great sound to entertain you as the time passes. Here are some albums I’ve been listening to:
Taylor Swift’s Lover (2019), Ingrid Michaelson’s Girls and Boys(2006), Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour (2018), Mariah Carey’s Daydream(1995), Paul Simon’s Graceland, Drake’s Take Care (2011) and Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer (2018), Regina Spektor’s Live in London (2010) and the Original Broadway Cast recording of Mamma Mia! (1999)
Neither Abba, nor OBC of Mamma Mia! nor the movie cast of Mamma Mia! had a bad hit. ICONIC!!!
On the podcast front….when this first began, I consumed an unhealthy amount of Rona content before, during and after work. I couldn’t stop thinking about the economy, my job stability and my health. In the mornings, I would listen to NYT’s The Daily and in the evening, WSJ’s The Journal. That wasn’t good for my mental health. I am learning to become comfortable with the fact that some things, like Ms. Rona, are completely out of my control. So annoying, right?!
So, while I’m cooking, I listen to happier things. Sometimes over and over again. Notably, Reply All’s #158 The Case of the Missing Hit,
More guides on what to listen to:
Vox’s How to survive quarantine, in 215 songs, Girls’s Night In’s guide, NPR’s Press Pause and Hit Play and Live Concerts galore. Oh, and Tiny Desk concerts! (Taylor Swift’s All Too Well performance makes me get teary everytime)
What to cook
I will not bore yall with the story of how I became obsessed with cooking vegan food. It’s so….fascinating how much we rely on meat to give us flavor. Vegan cooking really forces you to learn spices.
I suggest peruse the New York Times cooking site if you’re bored. On Sunday, I made Melissa Clark’s chocolate mousse! For absolutely no reason at all, I had martini glasses. I decided to plop some in it with strawberries to make it look fancy.
I’m going to start baking bread tomorrow night…..If yall didn’t take all the flour and yeast…
More guides on what to cook:
New York Times’ what to cook in quarantine, a fucking cookbook and my Pinterest board. Oh, and make sure you give Dalgona coffee a try!
What to read
I must admit, I’m not a huge novel reader. Idk, I tend to enjoy reallllly long profiles and news. I have been making my way through The Secret History (1992). It’s really great and unexpected.
I am looking forward to absolutely destroying the Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It’s supposed to drop early May. They should just drop it now so I can read it RIGHT NOW!!!!
More guides on what read:
Here’s the Girls Night In reading list, the Los Angeles Times’ reading your way around America and my friend Adrienne Shih’s reading list.
The only other thing I want to say….is I’ve beefed up my property search. I just love looking at mansions in Zillow and designing them on Pinterest.
Do I have a sizable savings account to speak of? No.
Will I somehow own these homes? Yes. How? Idk, but it will!
I highly highly recommend you do the same. ITS SO ADDICTING TO DREAM BIG!
Alright girlies, that’s all I got. Until next time!
PS: If you thought my guide sucked, give the Girls Night Out or the Los Angeles Times’ Guide to the Internet a try. They’re much prettier.
PPS: Don’t forget to secure your Zoom calls, workout often and STOP—