Link Party: 1/23-1/27

Paper monsteras.
Paper monsteras.

This was a really, really, really tough week on many levels. I hope that you’re taking care of yourself and working towards finding your own sense of balance. Do not feel guilty about taking breaks to do the things you enjoy. “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

Here’s what I read this week:

1. The extraordinary stories of the White House mailroom staff, Obama’s 10 letters a day and the people who wrote them.

2. This is what it’s like to come to the United States as a refugee.

— Before you get to the rest of the links, it’s imperative you read the first two. They are required reading. —

3. What Roxane Gay is reading.

4. The story of David Bowie’s secret final project.

5. “Self-care” is not the same as “treating yourself.”

And a bonus: How to begin again.

Have a great week. I believe in you.

Link Party: 12/12-12/16

California in bloom, by Rifle Paper Co.
California in bloom, by Rifle Paper Co.

Here’s what I’ve read lately:

1. “My President Was Black,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This is essential reading.

2. I love Instagram poet Cleo Wade‘s posts.

3. The meme of the year was emails.

4. The history behind octopi wearing top hats.

5. The greatness of Teen Vogue.

Have a great week.

Link Party: 10/29-11/20

My favorite daily reminder.
My favorite daily reminder.

There hasn’t been much Link Partying around here lately. I need to fix that, and I promise to be more consistent in the last few weeks of 2016 and into 2017.

Here’s a party to last you all week. Take your pick:

1. An interview with Frank Ocean.

2. Zadie Smith on the dancers that inspire her. (I can’t wait to read Swing Time.)

3. An American journalist spends 10 years abroad and comes back to his homeland.

4. Hillary Clinton and the glass ceiling.

5. Hamilton Leithauser and Rostam‘s collaboration.

6. The barnacle queens of Galicia.

7. Instagram geotagging is ruining nature.

8. Yet another brilliant conversation with Elena Ferrante.

9. The wave of all-women art exhibitions.

10. The preserved shipwrecks in the Black Sea.

11. President Obama on his legacy and America’s future.

12. Behind the scenes at the Butterball turkey hotline.

Have a great week.

Link Party: 8/29-9/9

Ice cream always makes everything better.
Ice cream always makes everything better.

Hi! Long time no see. It’s really only been about two weeks, but it feels like a really long time to me. In those two weeks, my work/freelance/personal lives consumed me and I got a cold that kicked my ass. I’ve kind of been on the Internet, but not in a particularly mindful way.

But those two weeks off were actually a really good thing, because I realized just how much I miss doing this as a regular thing. Back when I first started, I would write 2-3 posts a week. Now I’m lucky if I can get a Link Party out on time. I want to get back to a regular writing schedule, so that I have time to do what I actually, really love I can have consistent brain workouts. This means reshuffling of priorities, setting harder deadlines with myself and probably less sleep. I have a feeling that this will all be worth it in the long run.

You, dear reader, have been consistently awesome from the beginning. I am always shocked to hear from people, in comment form or IRL, when they say how much they like it. Thank you for being the best.

Here’s what I’ve been reading lately:

1. This 24-year-old woman tried a Coke for the first time. I really loved this essay — I thought it was extremely well-written and weaved in all the right social elements.

2. Ayahuasca is having a moment.

3. The wonderful house dress.

4. If you haven’t read the LA Times “Framed” series, you should: it is a wild, wild ride.

5. Watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as a film about technology.

6. Elizabeth Holmes and the story of Theranos.

7. The last time Luc Sante saw Jean-Michel Basquiat. This type of personal essay is one of the many reasons why I love the Internet as a writing space: a quick but powerful thought.

8. If you don’t know much about Gene Wilder or Gilda Radner, you need to read this post ASAP.

9. Why aren’t we desperate for the new iPhone?

10. The Internet is obsessed with live streams of nothing.

And two bonuses: Whoever runs Merriam-Webster’s Twitter is a savage we can all take some lessons from, and a great video from PBS Idea Channel asking if the Internet is a public space.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Culture Connoisseur: What I Read In Print

One of my favorite feelings comes about like this — I arrive home after a long day at work, look through the pile of mail on the dining room table and see a new issue of a magazine addressed to me. I love the accessibility that the Internet gives me when it comes to reading a variety of publications, but nothing beats the feeling of holding a print magazine in my hands. It makes the reading experience seem weightier: a team of people like myself made it happen, and I’m about to delve deep into it. A magazine issue is also a piece of art, as it makes a statement about what’s important in the world we’re living in today. I honor that.

I’ve subscribed to different publications over the years, but I have favorites that I return to over and over again. Here are six of them.

The New Yorker.

When I was a junior in college, I attended a lecture where the speaker recommended that we read The New Yorker. I went home, purchased a 2-year print subscription and never looked back.

Getting this magazine every week has exposed me to the best of the best culture writing that’s out there. I often link to articles in my Link Parties because they are, without fail, thought-provoking and unique. Some of my recent favorite reads include a story about Donald Trump’s supporters, the Bouvier affair and a Nora Ephron essay.  I don’t read every single article anymore, but I pencil in time every Sunday afternoon to peruse the week’s issue. This magazine has indelibly changed my perspective, and pushes me to be a better writer and a better critic. I hope it never ever ever goes out of print.

Vogue.

As a teenager, I was so obsessed with fashion and haute couture that you could point out a piece of clothing and I could list off all of the details of who made it and what collection it came from. Every few months, my grandma would give me a stack of Vogue. I would pore over and rip out ads and editorials that I would tack up on the wall.

I don’t have time anymore to follow fashion week coverage, but I always make time to read Vogue. Many people discount women’s magazines as less-than journalism, which is really silly. Vogue is the barometer for women’s style, and serves as both a historical and cultural source of information about what we wear, what we buy and where we go. The organization does have a long way to go on its diversity in its editorials and coverage, but it’s moving in the right direction. The clothes the features talk about are often not accessible to most people, but the Devil Wears Prada point is real and salient. It’s a magazine I await every month.

The California Sunday Magazine.

My other grandma gets the newspaper, and in one Sunday edition this magazine was tucked into it. She gave me the copy, which I really enjoyed flipping through. Fast forward to this past spring, when I attended a Pop-Up Magazine event. They’re made by the same people, and I took advantage of a subscription deal — I’m so glad I did.

The California Sunday Magazine is a general interest magazine that features exceptional investigative reporting. If you like reading about a variety of subjects, you’ll like California Sunday Magazine. As a writer, I consider every issue a crash course in writing technique and brainstorming. The editorial staff chooses such interesting subjects, and I have yet to be disappointed. I have loved reading about the paramedics who live on the Texas-Mexico border, a Fort Bragg manhunt and women in the computer science field.

Condé Nast Traveler. 

Condé Nast Traveler is a new addition to my monthly print subscriptions, but I instantly fell in love with it. The caveat with this magazine is that everything the editors feature is wildly expensive and inaccessible. It’s so out-of-reach that it’s comical.

Regardless, it’s a fun dream session — I now want to vacation like Giorgio Armani and escape to remote islands off the coast of Washington. I also get a thrill out of the layout and design. If you love fonts and genius photo layouts, Condé Nast Traveler is your magazine. I also love that it’s a little bigger than the standard-sized magazine, which gives the text and photos room to breathe. That kind of material choice can make a huge difference, which is something the digital often can’t do.

 

New York Magazine.

I often read New York Magazine‘s online content, which is where I get most of my general news from. The writing is always smart. I like getting the magazine sent to my house so that I can spend some extra time reading the cover stories or longreads, which often turn up on this blog.

The Atlantic.

I also read a lot of The Atlantic on the computer, but I kinda like reading the print magazine more. With the constant refresh of online media, it’s easy for the fun features or sidebars to get lost in the ether. I also like telling myself that I only have a few more pages to read rather than gauging how much more scrolling I have to do. Reading online is wonderful and has turned me on to so many new publications and ideas, but I will always choose print over digital. Every time.

What magazines or newspapers do you subscribe to, or want to subscribe to? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

Link Party: 8/8-8/12

I love these trees a lot.
I love these trees a lot.

I spent the whole weekend in Los Angeles (Saturday: Santa Monica and Malibu; Sunday: Arts District + Downtown + the Eastside). I have zero regrets.

Here’s what I read this week:

1. Twitter‘s serious problem with abuse.

2. Inside a scandal at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

3. A brief history of Arthur memes.

4. YouTube beauty bloggers and anxiety.

5. Martha Stewart, Queen of the Internet.

And a bonus: Anna Wintour‘s garden makes me swoon.

I’m sending you all of my good vibes for a fantastic week.

Link Party: 7/4-7/8

Can't go to LACMA without visiting Matisse's "La Gerbe."
Can’t go to LACMA without visiting Matisse’s “La Gerbe.”

Before we get to the main event, I’d like to share one piece of wisdom that has served me well throughout my life: It’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.

Here’s what I read this week:

1. Up close and personal with Donald Trump and his supporters.

2. The Fantastic Roald Dahl.

3. Should famous artists’ social media profiles be saved and archived?

4. Marie Kondo and the war on stuff.

5. This is an incredibly well-written and thoughtful feature on Chili’s.

And a bonus: A photo essay on a 600-year-old salt co-op in Peru.

I hope you’re having a wonderful summer, and that you enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Link Party: 6/20-6/24

The koi (and a turtle friend) at my alma mater's Japanese garden.
The koi, catfish and a turtle friend at my alma mater’s Japanese garden.

I have an uneasy relationship with summer. I love that I shift to a more laid-back way of life, and that I can take more time to explore. I hate the heat and how it stifles both my body and creativity, making me feel incredibly unproductive. I’ve lived in Southern California my entire life, and every summer is a shock. So it goes.

Here’s what I read this week:

1. The author’s dad’s relationship with classic literature, specifically that of the Brontës.

2. The bullet journal in the world of iPhones.

3. Consider the archive of the Internet, and who decides what gets to stay.

4. The military origins of the cardigan.

5. Judith Butler.

And a bonus: “I must be a mermaid… I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.”

Have a beautiful weekend.

Link Party: 6/13-6/17

A new Jenny Holzer installation at the Broad Museum.
A new Jenny Holzer installation at the Broad Museum, which I visited yesterday.

I read so many great articles this week, and I couldn’t pare them down to the best six because they were all. so. great. The more the merrier. Here’s what I read:

1. Can Netflix survive in the world it created? (My take: probably not.)

2. How Silicon Valley nails Silicon Valley. (Do you watch this show?  I love it. Start watching it.)

3. This is a very emotionally difficult interview to read, but you really should read it — an interview with a woman who recently had an abortion at 32 weeks.

4. The underground economy that rules New York City’s food carts.

5. A delightful conversation about basically nothing with Paul McCartney.

6. Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and the power of the unfinished album.

7. An inside look at how Yahoo derailed Tumblr.

8. Barbara Williamson, one of the most famous radical sex experiments of the 1970s, and her life today.

9. An excerpt from a new book about Max Perkins, the editor who discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.

10. The best of the Dirtbags.

Have a great weekend.

Link Party: 3/14-3/25

Pike's Place.
Pike’s Place.

I spent an extra-long weekend in Seattle last week, so I didn’t have much time to read on the Internet / compile a roundup before I left on Thursday. That means that this week you get double the links, which also means double the partying. Here’s what I’ve read lately:

1. Kinfolk and the hipster aesthetic.

2. The Rescued Film Project.

3. How women mapped the upheaval of 19th century America.

4. What is public?

5. I fully support this case for redesigning U.S. currency.

6. A trip to the 500-year-old Jewish ghetto in Venice, one of the world’s oldest.

7. Ta-Nehisi Coates on Nina Simone and the controversy surrounding her recently announced biopic.

8. The legacy of Kate Millett’s “Sexual Politics.”

9. I know nothing about skateboarding, but I thought this profile on Jake Phelps and Thrasher magazine was fascinating.

10. The work of Es Devlin, the world’s preeminent set designer.

And two bonuses, which happen to both be documentaries:

— Regardless of whether or not you’re into fashion, you really, really, really need to watch “Bill Cunningham New York.” It’s a documentary about the street style photographer for the New York Times. It’s on Netflix. Go watch it.

— I’ve always appreciated Nora Ephron’s essays and movies, so it came as no surprise to me that I enjoyed the documentary her son made about her life and career: “Everything Is Copy.” After watching this film, I’m convinced that we are kindred spirits. It’s on HBO. Go watch it.

Have a wonderful weekend.