This was by far the best thing to happen on the internet this week
You may know Mari Andrew from her brutally honest illustrations but she’s also a beautiful writer, as evidenced by this piece about the grief of cancelling plans; of not being able to plan for the future nor be spontaneous in the present. We suspect it will echo what many of us are feeling right now (“This reminds me of ending a relationship. There’s always that moment after a split when you look over your calendar and realise how many plans aren’t actually going to happen.”)
Tiny love stories (‘Strangers on a Train’ absolutely killed us 😭)
Everyone’s talking about Normal People, and the brilliant Anne Helen Petersen is here to encapsulate what makes it so goddamn watchable (“Normal People is best consumed alone. In its depiction of first love, this series evokes something that — at least for me, and maybe for you — feels so personal and private that even having someone else in the room seems too intimate. The novel the series is based on, by Sally Rooney, does things to people. It transports us back to our most tender and desirous selves. The show does too.”)
This impression of every white girl maid of honour speech is so! spot! on!
Social distancing has given us a newfound appreciation for what life was like in the Regency era (“The inherent suffocation of a life lived almost entirely within the same four walls has given me a fresh appreciation for why characters like Elizabeth Bennet and Sense and Sensibility’s Marianne Dashwood find a simple walk so electrifying. It gives them freedom and perspective.”)
24 hours in the epicentre of the pandemic
This week on Twitter, someone set a challenge to ruin a film by putting ‘moist’ in the title and the replies are just. so. good (“Moist Rear Window, anyone?”)
Elsewhere on Twitter, an absolute genius has started an account called Room Rater that roasts bad Zoom and Skype backgrounds. Even the celebs aren’t immune to the author’s wrath, with Gwyneth Paltrow scoring a lowly 3/10 and Clare Danes barely scraping a pass with a 6/10. Definitely worth a follow, if only for the acerbic comments
24 one-pot recipes for when you can’t be fucked doing the dishes
Africola’s Duncan Welgemoed has released the recipe to his secret spaghetti sauce and the combination of pancetta, lard drippings, pork, veal, Italian sausages AND marrow honestly sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen. Who’s game??
Erm, so it looks like we might have been playing ‘Fuck Marry Kill’ wrong this whole time…
Weird things we do to feel better (there’s gold in the comments)
Get your noods ready: Samin Nosrat is getting a bunch of people (aka the world) to make lasagna together on Sunday and everyone’s invited. Here’s everything you need to know, and here’s your shopping list (Yes, the imperial measurements are a nightmare. No, we don’t know how much a stick of butter is either 🤷)
