Hi!
Itβs time for some radical honesty. Sometimes this newsletter is as hard to write as it is to read.Β
I was feeling very uninspired while writing this weekβs edish and took a walk at sunset. I saw some of the most beautiful clouds Iβd ever seen, sumptuous and fluffy and tinged with hot pink. It gave me a second wind to return to my computer and write about incredible, profound things β like the beef I have with sunglasses (spoiler alert!)
Best not keep you waiting for the good stuff. Letβs go.Β
π SWEETIE RATES π
Justice4jc
Not much to report here β just a TikTok account dedicated to showcasing *NSYNC member JC Chasezβs underrated talents. With daily uploads of JC singing, dancing and goofing off in little-seen footage, gushing captions and a surprising amount of comments sing the erstwhile popstarβs praises.Β
To be fair, Justice4jc has a point. JC never broke out quite like the other members, never really got his dues. Justin Timberlake isβ¦ Justin Timberlake. Lance Bass tried to go to the moon and is now friends with Lisa Vanderpump. Joey Fatone was in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Chris Kirkpatrick voiced Chip Skylark on Fairly Odd Parents and was dissed by Eminem.Β
So where is JC? Oh, I see, heβs been relegated to writing songs for Matthew Morrison of Glee infamy. Wouldnβt wish that on my worst enemy. Justice for JC indeed.Β
Harlan County, USA
This weekend I finally got around to watching Barbara Koppleβs 1976 documentary, Harlan County, USA. Mine is not exactly a groundbreaking recommendation β itβs a foundational piece in American documentary history β but the film feels like weighty viewing as the world continues to unravel and the wealth gap widens.Β
Mostly brutal, sometimes beautiful, the film is an intimate look at the 180 southeast Kentucky coal miners and their community throughout the 13-month Brookside Strike. Fighting for basics like running water, sick leave and the right for safety under merciless conditions, itβs a portrait of the grit and dogged determination it feels the working class has had to all but abandon since.Β
Seeing so many women in the credits of a doco from the 70βs also stirred a strange pride within me. Barbara Kopple was just 30 when she won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Harlan County, USA β the third woman to win the accolade, and probably also the third person this week to whom I have negatively compared myself.
Pierce Abernathy
Now this is a man you can set your watch to. Iβm not sure whatβs happening with my influencer love lately, but toot toot, jump on the train, a new internet idol is here. Sure, Pierceβs good looks donβt hurt his appeal, but his food content is what keeps me hooked. The guy has a way with vegetables that I really donβt quite understand but am nevertheless mesmerised by.Β
Whenever he pops up on my feed I just know that heβs going to cook the hell out of a cabbage or a finger lime or a head of radicchio with a recipe Iβve never encountered before.Β
Pierce is also the kind of person who would appreciate Vegetable of the Week and thatβs all that matters to me, pretty much ever. Broccolini next week, by the way, set a Siri reminder.Β
π SWEETIE HATES π
Sunglasses
If you ever see me wearing sunglasses, just know that itβs for aesthetic reasons. Iβm either wearing them because I feel like shit, or I look like shit. I have some kind of disease, some rare malady, and it manifests as me not being able to see dick-all when I have sunglasses on. Iβm convinced that they barely work, no matter the UV rating, because Iβm still behind those shades, squinting away like goddamn Ariana Grande.Β
Sunglasses are also one of the most aesthetically tricky, and sensitive, pieces of apparel that exist. How many friends do you have that wear sunglasses that donβt suit their face? Iβm going to hazard a guess and say at least three. And you canβt tell them, of course. You just have to stare at them, with their off-kilter aviators or their wraparounds or their oversized Jackie Oβs and nod solemnly. You want to tell them to take the sunglasses off. They look like a damn fool! You canβt. You have to let them walk around like that. Itβs the law of politeness.Β
You canβt blame them, of course, not one iota. Let she who is without sunglasses sin cast the first stone or whatever. Iβm also convinced that sunglasses are the most embarrassing thing to try on in a store. In a perfect world it would be socially acceptable to go into the change room to try on just sunglasses, away from prying eyes.Β
Showing animals magic
STOOOOPPPP!!! This genre of video makes me sick to my bluddy stomach. Do you see how upset they get when theyβre shown whatever stupid little card trick or sleight of hand is being foisted upon them? Itβs utterly graceless. Animal cruelty to the highest degree. You may as well eat their children in front of them.
Animals are blessed with the beauty of ignorance, with the lack of knowledge we all yearn to cultivate in our own lives. They donβt need a two-bit David Blaine coming in and shattering their wonderfully-balanced worldview with a coin-behind-the-ear trick. Animals already know everything they need to know, thatβs why theyβre content just chilling out and continuing along the chain of evolution. Yes, thatβs right, I believe in evolution.Β
The positive effects of cutting back on drinking
Unfortunately, science is right once again and cutting back on alcohol generally makes your life better and your health healthier and your glow glowier. Iβm really sorry to say it. There are so many reasons to cut back β the sheer amount of cashola you save, the easy pursuit of restful sleep, your liver, your vanity, waking up with white eyeballsβ¦ The list continues ad nauseam. Really, the only counterpoint I have for not cutting back is βwine yummy.β Sadly that no longer cuts it as a concrete rationale.Β Β
I despise that people were right about this, but when youβre in your th*rties, excess alcohol just ainβt it. Pack it up. Itβs time for less post-work drinks, less wines to unwind at home, less sunny afternoon pints and more water and electrolytes.Β
Itβs taken me a while to get to this point. Perhaps I shouldβve known to lay off the weeknight drinks a smidge earlier β last year I slipped in the shower and concussed myself after βjust oneβ turned into βjust one bottleβ but thatβs in the past now. And I barely remember it. Not sure why. Always put the grip mat down.Β
Bye silly!