cosmic signals
h e l l o from t h e o
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this week’s style inspo:
Chadwick Boseman at the 2018 Met Gala
what I’m clicking:
Queer Appalachia is not what it claims to be | “Comfort Decorating” with a ping pong table in the hallway | How the fashion industry collapsed | The unraveling of America | Learning magic in prison | How Peter Meehan created a toxic workplace | How Q Anon became obsessed with an imaginary drug harvested from children | Tik Tok and the evolution of digital blackface | New York City is dead | New York City is NOT dead | What should a museum look like in 2020? | Paparazzi are now shooting Tik Tok stars since celebs are hiding | I’ve been told: a PSA on hair discrimination | How a new wave of Black activists changed the conversation | The eco-yogi slumlords of Brooklyn | Jesmyn Ward’s personal tragedy followed by pandemic | Was anyone else irrationally afraid of black holes as a child?
what I’m wanderlusting:
My favorite travel inspiration on Instagram right now is @viancasoleil, who is doing some sort of chic af homesteading situation in the Philippines
what I’m watching:
I May Destroy You. I read an article that describes this show as “sublimely unsettling” and I think that’s a perfect description. There are scenes you really don’t want to watch, but it’s also hard to look away. I’m really looking forward to season 2 because there are a lot of threads left untied and I really want to keep hanging out with these characters.
what I’m coveting:
A celestial diamond ring from Pieces of Starr
what I’m reading:
Colson Whitehead
As soon as I picked up this book I remembered first reading about this story in the news (it’s a novel, but inspired by real places and events). This story is so sad and so tragic and so sick that it’s almost too upsetting to read, but Colson Whitehead does this thing where he really brings you into it in a way that you’re rooting for the main characters to survive and thrive--I couldn’t put this book down until I found out what happened to them.
Did it make me cry: This is probably one of the saddest books I’ve read in a long time.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Is it a good pandemic book: I think this is a great time to learn about institutionalized racism in all forms and this book has fascinating insight into the school system, juvenile detention, and incarceration.
Would I read it again: No, I don’t think so.
Would it be a good movie: I think it would be way too hard to watch (too much torture), but yeah, the story would work well in a film format.
Amor Towles
This book got pretty bleak reviews from my friends and family that read it, but I actually had a really good time. It’s sort of like a smoothie made out of The Great Gatsby, Bonfire of the Vanities, and The Age of Innocence.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Is it a good pandemic book: It’s not a good pandemic book but it’s not NOT a good pandemic book, I guess.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: I don’t think it’s particularly unique enough to be made into a movie ALTHOUGH if you turned this into a modern-day Brooklyn hipster cast then: maybe. Especially the part where one of the characters moves to LA.
Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls
Anton DiSclafani
I got a couple of pages into this book and I was like “is this an incest book”? And I’m here to say the answer to that question is YES, but not in the way I originally assumed. I’m not really sure who this book is for, but I really hated reading it. The characters were weird and boring--the children were creepy and the adults were stupid and one-dimensional. The only issue is that I had to finish it to find out what happened because despite the WTFosity of this book, she's a good writer.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Is it a good pandemic book: Maybe in the way that you’re like “um, what” and immediately want to talk about this book with somebody who’s read it--a conversation that’s not about current events! Also it takes place at the beginning of the Great Depression so there are some parallels with real life. I have to say that the setting was also pretty great.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: I’m pretty sure this movie would be illegal.
Lawrence Osborne
I haven’t read that much actual travel writing since everyone stopped traveling, so this was kind of fun and refreshing at first, but then it mostly just got really sad for me. The premise of the book is that this writer who’s a borderline (or perhaps full-blown) alcoholic travels throughout the Middle East drinking with interesting people in interesting places. But instead of being about places I can dream about visiting one day it felt like it was about places that are either gone forever or will never be the same again.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: I actually think he’s a funny guy, but I don’t think this is his funniest work.
Is it a good pandemic book: No, it’s too depressing. Especially the chapters set in Beirut.
Would I read it again: I would perhaps read a chapter here or there to research old-school hotel bars for an upcoming trip.
Would it be a good movie: No.
Julian Fellowes
So this guy wrote Downton Abbey (which I’m thinking about finally starting), and Gosford Park (which I just watched and loved) and this book (which would honestly probably be a better movie but it’s still fun to read).
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Is it a good pandemic book: It’s an immersion into a totally different world where words have different meanings and there’s an extremely fine line between acceptable behavior and totally outrageous antics. It’s a cultural crash course into hoity-toity royal-adjacent Brits. It also feels quite gossipy and I know we're all starved for gossip right now.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: Yes, but make it extremely contemporary. The book seems to be set in the 90s/00s, and the movie would need to be set tomorrow.
The People We Hate at the Wedding
Grant Ginder
I am not a fan of this book. The premise is fun, but the characters are wretched. They’re all self-obsessed messes that are legitimately bad people. I feel sorry for this author’s family members and friends (if he has any) because I have a feeling that this is how he sees them. I finished the book because I thought at some point I would grow to like--or at least tolerate--some of the characters, but when I was done I felt nothing except remorse at wasting my own time.
Did it make me cry: No, but I know he was really trying to make people cry on the last page there.
Did it make me laugh: Yeah, he has some really quippy retorts that made me chuckle.
Is it a good pandemic book: No, it will just make you sad that you’re at a fictional wedding with a bunch of jerks and not at a real wedding with your friends.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: No, there’s absolutely no plot.