Just when we thought Samantha Irby couldn’t get any more fucking funny, she’s gone and written a killer piece in the Guardian about her summer working in a writers’ room in LA with zero experience working on a television show and we promise it will have you crying with laughter
What it means to insist people pronounce your name correctly
Everyone’s talking about this essay by Lorrie Moore, in which she absolutely ANNIHILATES millennials and pretty much everything to do with Normal People (“Millennials are boundary-conscious and cannot be touched by anyone, even on the sleeve, without consent, but with consent will have hook-ups with total strangers and enact desire in frightening postures of BDSM. Millennials speak so quickly, it is no wonder that boomers seem and sound like idiots, even to themselves. Millennials are close to their parents but also quietly blame them for what they (the children) do and are.”)
The wonderful Esther Perel on the joy of complaining
Love the idea of magic hour
In lieu of leaving for Italy next month, Vanessa has watched this deliciously atmospheric short film set in the Calabrian countryside about ten thousand times (it’s part of a fantastic series called Portrait of a Place, and you can see all the short films here)
On missing a life of spontaneity before the pandemic
Megan Washington released the first single from her upcoming album Batflowers yesterday and it’s just beautiful
Over on Twitter, the writer and comedian Bec Shaw asked people to share “quick, cheap, can’t-be-fucked” meals and the result is a loooooong thread of excellent ideas for feeding yourself quickly
This house! The books! The open shelves! The colours!
A sobering account of a life of disordered eating (“The term “picky eater” didn’t apply to me. Picky eaters had to be reminded to pay attention to their plates. But I never forgot about food, in the way you never forget about anything you fear. I was scared of feeling sick. I was scared of not liking tastes. I was scared of something getting in me that I could never get out. I was scared of something happening to my body that would make me not me.”)
Curtis Sittenfeld on how to write a short story (if only it was this easy)
This piece on the idea of scarcity mindset (aka not feeling like you ever have enough) is fascinating (“You’re getting out there, maybe you’ve made some sales and gotten some recognition, but you can’t help feeling that you’re still behind. Everyone else seems to have more — followers, opportunities, time. They seem to have it all figured out. It’s starting to feel like there will never be enough money, connections, or recognition to give you the stability and success you’re looking for.”)
Chefs share their secrets on how to make vegetables taste good
