Friday Flowers #6

A few links to things I enjoyed recently—that you might enjoy, too. Plus some pictures of pretty flowers.

[Editor’s note: Things are picking up around here after I spent the last 18 months on the road either promoting Dirtbag, Massachusetts (now in paperback—makes a great gift!) or doing research for my next book, American Dionysus. I don’t wanna make *too* many promises, but I’m hoping to get one last Walk It Off up before the end of the year, and y’all should know that this lil’ walking blog is gonna get a lot of love and elbow grease from yours truly in 2024 . A heartfelt “THANK YOU!” to y’all for being such a kind, patient community—and don’t worry, I promise not to email y’all *too* much in the future. Nobody wants that. ❤️]

“At the time, it felt like my reputation was sealed. No one would know me for anything else. I was now the reverse racist lady, the Asian who hates white people. But these days, when I introduce myself to people—even journalists who’ve previously written about me and my bad tweets—they will, at most, squint and look a little puzzled. ‘I’ve seen your byline somewhere,’ they say sometimes.”

The talented folks at The Verge published a fantastic series titled, “The Year Twitter Died” (the art design alone is worth checking out). I know the demise of social media is a lil’ obsession of mine (apologies), but I especially enjoyed Sarah Jeong’s piece looking back on her time at the heart of an online harassment campaign (which the above quote is taken from), and Nilay Patel on how Twitter broke the news.

[Editor’s note: The best place to keep up with me on social media these days is Instagram.]

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I recently saw the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway. I don’t bring this up to brag—although, if you’re in NYC and get a chance to see it, you absolutely should—but to point you toward this wonderful New York Times piece by Ben Brantley (published last year) about actor and director Maria Friedman’s attempt to do the musical justice.

“Grandmama was the best chef, cook, food conjurer, and gardener in Scott County. Hence, she hated on all food, and all food stories, that she did not make. 

But Grandmama never, ever hated on the cuisine at Jr. Food Mart, our favorite restaurant that served gas.”

The brilliant Kiese Laymon writes poignantly about how, well, his favorite restaurant served gas.  

“It’s hard to see history when you’re in the middle of it, harder still to distinguish Swift’s impact on the culture from her celebrity, which emits so much light it can be blinding.”

Taylor Swift is Time’s person of the year, and the accompanying profile is written by a writer I quite admire, Sam Lansky.

Ok, now this is bragging. A picture of the 1950s Signet Classics Edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass that I found on the street, which I’m going to go read right now.

That’s it from me. Don’t let the cold air keep you from getting outside and seeing what there is to see. 🍃