Doing Less [#141]
A soft pants update, and, why have I suffered for so long with a suboptimal number of charging cables and ports?
Happy Official Summer!
I found some more soft pants (this time, a pair of white wide-leg linen drawstring ones from Cotton On) and am just living in them. Also I didn’t wash my hair for five days (only dry shampoo) and it looked awesome. It brings me great contentment to sit around in soft pants and do less hair maintenance, so I am having a swell summer so far. I’ve even overcome my usual indolence to order more charging cables and ports. Per the recommendations of Friend Matt (who field tests the gear in his bag annually), I have purchased this retractable USB-C cable and this excellent, small, affordable charging port.
Reading
The enshittification of Google Search means now I’m using Reddit for what I used to use search for. An excellent package of pieces on climate change’s impacts on fertility and parenthood. A Korean gym tried to ban inelegant aunties, aka, ajummas, only inviting a furnace of backlash about ageism and gender policing. A culture of diversity has actually strengthened NPR, not the other way around. Republicans are hell-bent on becoming “monomaniacally anti-woke culture warriors,” a piece paired well with Rebecca Traister’s examination of the incoherence of being a Republican woman. Why are there so many Chinese American women named Connie? just won an award, which reminded me to share it. One cool trick for maintaining friendships of depth.
Book(s) On My Nightstand1
I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, by Glynnis MacNichol. Read it if you want a food and pleasure-filled trip to Paris without spending the money to go there.
Horse Barbie, by Geena Rocero. Read it if you are into rags-to-riches tales of triumph mixed in with glam and social critique about the way both Asian and American societies regard trans people.
- . Read it if you enjoy humorous essay collections and critiques on pretty privilege, wellness culture, and the wild ride of being a modern woman.
And you can read with me this year with my entire 2024 book list, here on Bookshop. If you buy from Bookshop you’re supporting independent booksellers, so bookmark this page!
Werk Werk Werk
Sam Sanders and I sat down to talk about the fast rise in plastic surgery rates and how digital culture is driving it, for a truly well-produced episode of Apple News in Conversation. Sam’s a friend and a pro-interviewer. We both really enjoyed chewing over this issue together.
Guest hosted an episode of
with to take listener questions about Sephora tweens. One theme was, where do these tweens get all the money?! I still don’t quite understand.Over on the Forever 35 feed (where I am co-hosting this summer), we had a conversation about Joni Mitchell, songs of Summer and Qi Gong with NPR Music Critic and prolific author Ann Powers. We also quizzed the internet’s preeminent Gen Z observer
of about trends like bed rotting, all the prairie skirts, and what is most worrisome to her about youth culture. (Here’s the full episode)A reminder that if you like just me and Doree riffing on whatever, then subscribe to our Patreon for ad-free casual chats! We just put up a Casual Chat episode about Rob’s harrowing run-in with a stingray on Venice Beach, and in the previous one we discussed the awkward situation when I pull up to my house while people are in my yard perusing the Little Free Library. Am I supposed to engage? Or do I seem like a super eager salesperson trying to push a book in the circular economy?
Watch and/or Listen
Inside Out 2. Didn’t pack the same emotional wallop as the first, but was smart how they handled anxiety and the way it can take over your brain and lead to a spinout.
Roger Federer: 12 Final Days. (Amazon Prime Video) I learned a lot about tennis legend Roger Federer in watching this documentary that follows the 12 days up to and around his official retirement from competitive tennis. His bromance with Rafa really brought me to tears.
Laufey. My tween got me into her. It’s so old timey, get Gen Z loves her.
Upcoming IRL Events
Los Angeles (Pasadena), July 12 Joining my dear Seoul-based friend and a multiple-award winning translator, JB Anton Hur, to moderate the launch of his speculative fiction novel, Toward Eternity. Come on out, he’s one of the most brilliant, most thoughtful people I know.
Nepal, July 15-27 We all had a “I’m gonna go trekking through Nepal” phase, right? Well, mine was 22 years ago and I still haven’t been to Nepal but the State Department is changing that because I’ve been invited to speak at a Creator’s Mela in Kathmandu next month and by golly, you betcher ass I’m gonna make the 24+ hour journey to get there.
Atlanta, October 22-25 I’m giving my first TED talk at a big TED conference! The gathering formerly known as TEDWomen has rebranded (and become more inclusive) as TED Next, and I’ll be talking about the technological gaze (wherein we chase artificial beauty standards on our physical bodies). So excited! Everyone is invited to apply to attend; it’s pricey so I’m hoping some of you have companies that could send you…
All right, I think that about covers things from here. I’m going back to luxuriating in my soft pants while I can, before a wave of travel will inevitably lead to another sinus infection cycle that I’ll be whining about in this newsletter.
HAPPY PRIDE and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL MY CANCER SEASON CRABBIES! I love my Cancers and am surrounded by you nurturing forces of nature for a reason.
Love y’all,
E
I’m adding this category to the Hu’s Letter, you can lodge your complaints in the comments if you hate it
That Connie story is fascinating.