Friendmendations 8.10.21
Hello! As of this week, I officially no longer have a day job. Also my lease is up September 1 and my roommate is leaving the city, so I have to find a new career, apartment, and roommate. I should also start paying closer attention to news about the Delta variant instead of anxiously avoiding it. In all ways except physical, I am the "this is fine" dog.
Things are finer than usual, though, because I'm house-sitting at a lovely place in the suburbs. It feels like a little vacation between my old job and the chaos I'm about to jump into. I've been rewatching a lot of old faves – Rebecca (1940), The Jerk, a double feature of EMMA. (2020) and Clueless – and also stuff I should have seen before, like Magic Mike and 30 Rock. ("Hey, Allison, that sure sounds like avoidance behavior!" I mean yeah, maybe. Probably. Definitely.)
I'm going to buckle down and get my head in the game. I promise. In the meantime: guess what! It's recs!
Another thing I watched
From what I understand, Uncut Gems is a serious turn from a goofy comedian playing a character who's reckless and in over his head in an anxiety-inducing pressure cooker of a film. I will not watch Uncut Gems because of the anxiety-inducing part, so I guess you could say The Polka King is my Uncut Gems. It technically has the aforementioned qualities, but it's much sillier and lighter. It's about 10% stress, which is exactly as much as I can handle right now.
My brother recommended it to me and I went into it knowing nothing, which is a great way to approach it! (I would embed the trailer here, but it gives away all of the twists and many of the best jokes.) It's a wild true story that would make a great double feature with another wild adaptation of a true story starring Jack Black, Bernie.
#BathingSuitsAreBullshit
I got so many responses to my bathing suit manifesto! The people are fed up!! Here are some of the recommendations I got for more functional swimsuits:
Other stuff
- "This Is Going To Change The World" by Dan Kois – "As the new millennium dawned, a mysterious invention from a charismatic millionaire became a viral sensation—then went down in flames. Ever since, I’ve wondered: Was it all my fault?"
- "The Parallel-Parking Job That Ignited the Internet" by P.E. Moskowitz
- Two TikToks about unwanted gifts: one from Emma Keane, one from Wes the Ghost
Okay, them's the recs for this week. See you again for the essay post and I'll see some of you behind the paywall for a bonus post. Thank you for reading!!
This week last year:
Allison Driskill
Allison Driskill