Your honor, she's flopping.
On beef, New Orleans, and Florence Pugh.
A current symptom of my depression is my inability to care about anything that isn’t a silly little game on my phone. This would be funnier if it weren’t true and sadder if it didn’t mean that when Riley asks what I’m doing, my response is often, “Gathering virtual nuts so this squirrel has enough eneregy to build a bench for his family.” One of the only things keeping me from gently floating off into the abyss — being depressed is actually very gorgeous — is a word game called Sparrows. It’s like Mahjong meets Scrabble meets a bowl of yummy candy you can’t stop popping into your mouth one by one. The longest word I’ve played is disgruntled because even at my lowest I am still creating beautiful art that will be studied for generations to come. Among my most commonly played words are iota, naive, zine, aura, hoax, waft, and beef. What I’m trying to say is that I’ve been neglecting this newsletter because I’ve been too busy constructing tiny poems for my phone.
Speaking of zine aura waft beef, I’ll be in NYC this weekend for the Brooklyn Book Festival! I’m doing an event on Monday, October 3 at 7 p.m. with Elissa Bassist, Katie Heaney, and Carmen Maria Machado. I will be wearing unsensible shoes and trying to sound smart and cool in front of my new friends. You can reserve a spot here — it’s $5 but you’ll get that money back in the form of a voucher for the bookstore and its cafe/bar. Okay, birdies, let’s eat.
Something I Ate with My Mouth
Not to be a bitch, but I was in New Orleans this week to celebrate my cousin’s birthday. My diet for the past few days has consisted mostly of beignets, crawfish, remoulade, and coffee so strong I only had to take one (1) nap the entire trip. Everything about New Orleans was delicious — the food, the archeticture, the occassional brass band just wah-wahing on the street. The only thing that would have made it better is if every terrible man shouting needless and boring innuendos had simply crumbled into dust the second we made eye contact :) Otherwise, 10/10.
Some Things I Ate with My Eyes
Okay, fine, I saw Don’t Worry Darling. It is my exact favorite genre of film: psychological thriller where Florence Pugh gets to wear cool outfits. Unfortunately, I have no big, smart feelings on it as I thought the film was just … fine. Definitely fun to watch but a little unsatisfying. The feminist themes felt a little empty and a lot of things went entirely unexplained. (The plane? The random booms and shaking?) However! Vanity Fair’s Delia Cai had a very good hypothesis on some of those seemingly unexplained moments — the lemons, the empty eggs, etc. It is worth seeing just for Kate Berlant, but you should probably just watch her newly released special, “Cinnamon in the Wind,” on Hulu instead.
Something I Ate with My Big, Gorgeous Brain
After all the garbage I have fed you, please enjoy one or more of the following as a digestif:
Damien Kronfield’s most recent newsletter, “I didn’t know I was trans until I transitioned”
Elissa Bassist’s memoir Hysterical — you can read an excerpt here
Some Things I Made for You to Eat
I wrote about Brad Pitt’s art exhibit, J.Lo’s LinkedIn account, and Kim Kardashian walking for my Cut column, I Can’t Shut Up About.
I wrote about leg lengthening surgery and the universal desire to be sexy for Cosmo.
I spoke with Delia Cai about She’s Nice Though for Vanity Fair.
Also, my newest essay collection, She’s Nice Though, is available right now this second. And! I’m doing a giveaway for paid subcribers. If you upgrade to a paid subscription, you could get some She’s Nice Though-themed goodies including a “Nice for what?” pin, a signed copy of the book, and other sweetie treaties mentioned in this newsletter.
Stay hungry,
Mia