10 fixations this week
A collection of news, media + memes I can't stop thinking about...
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about my current fixations. It was a fun exercise because it offered me the space to mindlessly dump all of my fleeting special interests that have no connection to one another in a format that merely hinted at structure. So I’m doing it again this week. It’s a win-win: I get to quickly and chaotically share my current fixations and you don’t need to read through endless fluffy prologue. Let’s get into it.
My 10 Fixations This Week
10. Hannah & Paige Try New Things on YouTube
If it feels like Hannah and Paige of Giggly Squad are EVERYWHERE right now it’s because they are. They have a NYT Best-Selling book. And a podcast that is SO popular that they were early guests on Amy Poehler’s new popular podcast. But their YouTube series “Hannah & Paige Try New Things” just makes my heart so happy. The editing is A+ and of course I would watch them try anything and everything.
9. All Fours by Miranda July
I read this book in a week. I could not put it down nor could I stop thinking about it. It consumed my psyche. It devoured me. And now that it's over, I feel converted. Baptized. And apparently I’m not alone (although the Goodreads reviews are pretty manic). The inside flap of Miranda July’s novel, All Fours, promises “an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious, and surprising novel about a woman upending her life,” (I mean, say less) and it delivered.
I did that thing I haven’t done since IB English where I highlighted every interesting/meaningful part and essentially highlighted the whole book. I don’t know how a 40-something-year-old woman reads this and isn’t changed forever. But ok, maybe honesty isn’t for you? It was both uplifting and so depressing. I hated and loved the protagonist; she was so scintillating and refreshing and so self-absorbed and obnoxious, yet she knew this about herself? This book will undoubtedly become required reading in women’s lit classes at liberal arts colleges in perpetuity.
8. This Podcast Interview with Isabel Allende
I was first introduced to Isabel Allende in 11th grade IB English and it was probably the single most important piece of text I’ve been introduced to with the exception of The Odyssey because that will always be number one (sorry, Bible). The House of the Spirits helped inform my literary taste in a way I can’t understate. A few weeks ago, Anna Sale of the podcast Death, Sex & Money interviewed the 82-year-old icon and there were SO MANY GEMS and lessons sprinkled throughout. You’ve gotta give it a listen.
This was my favorite snippet:
“I have been always in a couple and I’m good at it. I’m good at it because I have such an interesting inner life myself that I don’t ask for anything. And so there’s a lot of freedom for the other person and for me also. We live together intimately but we have a lot of space ~ air ~ in between.”
7. Wiley Wallaby Licorice
My BFF Ashley texted me a few weeks ago alerting me to this product and you know what? FUCK YOU, ASHLEY, FOR INTRODUCING THIS TO ME. This candy is DELICIOUS. It’s so chewy and flavorful and with no high-fructose corn syrup it feels like I’m enjoying a “healthier” iteration of Twizzlers.
This licorice is like crack and I’m addicted to it in the way that makes me think of my favorite scene from The Office.
6. The Rehearsal Season 2
I don’t wanna give anything away (other than, ya know, the basic premise which is articulated in this 10/10 headline from Entertainment Weekly) but holy cow. I’ve always been Nathan Fielder’s number one fan and now—one again—I feel incredibly validated in being such a superfan. He continues to do the MOST. Take the biggest risks. Leave us all gagging. I have no idea how he gets the approvals he needs to make all these ideas actually happen (his autism?) but we are so lucky to be living in the same timeline as him. This show is UNHINGED in the most creative, unexpected, wild-ass way. Get your subscription to HBO or Max or HBOMAX2+ now.
5. eBikes
You guys, I need one. I rode one in Mill Valley, California with my friend Melanie and now I’m obsessed and the Internet knows it and will not stop serving me ads. Anyway, I’m still in the “research” phase (aka trolling Reddit threads and saving lots of random specs that don’t apply to my use-case in a Google Sheet). But when the time comes, I can tell this is going to change EVERYTHING WRONG IN MY LIFE. I can feel it.
4. Ocean Vuong on Oprah
I just love him and I loved this wholeeee interview.
3. Sarah Milgrim & Yaron Lischinsky
Sarah and Yaron were a young Jewish couple who were leaving an event at the Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. and were murdered in cold blood by a terrorist and I cannot stop thinking about them…and also how wildly the whole story has been reported.
I go to Jewish spaces all the time and I worry that this exact thing will happen to my family every time I’m near my synagogue. I imagine my beautiful daughters getting shot in the head by a psychopath in a keffiyeh. These terrorist attacks reenforce my fear that I am not safe. I will never be safe as long as I continue to show up in Jewish spaces. And the worst part? The marginalized communities I try to defend and protect, could give a shit about mine.
Anyway, I loved this IG Story/Caption that Bess Kalb of
wrote…she is more articulate than any of us could hope to be.
It’s also worth nothing that between the time I wrote this list and when it was scheduled for publication, there was ANOTHER terrorist attack against Jews. This time, it was at a public march in Colorado for the release of the Israeli hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas in October 2021. I guess this is what happens when a bunch of people keep shouting, “Globalize the intifada!” But don’t listen to me, listen to Hen Mazzig.
2. A Quiet Life, by Baron Wormser
Someone (I want to say Alison Roman?) posted this blurry photo of a poem framed in a NYC bathroom on their IG Stories and I’m still thinking about it.
"A Quiet Life" by Baron Wormser, from Scattered Chapters. © Sarabande Books, 2008.
1. The viewership numbers of Season 2 of The Last of Us
Due to a mix of both creative decisions I hated (I don’t care if they were FROM THE GAME or not) and also just the general pacing and plotting, I was NOT feeling this season of The Last of Us. It was weird to become so emotionally uninvested in a show that I thought about (and enjoyed) for so long. At best, season 2 was disappointing and poorly-paced. At worst, it felt disconnected, frustrating, and cheesy. It introduced new characters I feel neutrally about and killed off characters whom I loved. I’m ready to stop watching it altogether—which sucks because Season 1 was so powerful and fascinating. But what I find incredibly validating is that I am NOT alone in this take.
The data around HBO’s viewership numbers on this series in particular is wildly interesting... I wonder what (if anything) will happen as they begin shooting season 3…
