Weekend Reads #282

Weekend Reads

Want to know if AI will take your job? I tried using it to replace myself. (Wall Street Journal – gift article)

Are we in the midst of a great fashion shakeup? (Washington Post – gift article)

How Kate Cox became a reluctant face of the abortion-rights movement. (Time)

How real is Shōgun? (Vox)

Is humanity out of fashion? (New York Times – gift article)

Alabama town that hasn’t held elections in decades sued to allow voting. (The Guardian)

The legacy of Black cowgirls. (Capital B)

For twenty years, PostSecret has broadcast suburban America’s hidden truths—and revealed the limits of limitless disclosure. (Hazlitt)

If you love Universal Standard's stretch linen, it's back for a very short time. You can believe I am beyond obsessed with the color Shoreline Sunset that's available this year (please US, make it in the shorts and the suit). Do know, the linen will return in a few weeks but now is the time to get in time for vacation and warmer parts of the country. Also, colors are often on backorder at the time of the full summer launch. If you want to learn more about US linen and see it on me:

• Universal Standard linen review for 2021
• A few more photos of me wearing Universal Standard linen in 2022
• Styling neon last summer, featuring a lot of US linen

For Wall Street's elite, dining out is suddenly louder and more extravagant than ever. (Business Insider)

Do you have a “fake email job”? (Bustle)

After my marriage failed, I strove to create a new family – one made beautiful by the loving way it’s stitched together. (Aeon)

The contraception conspiracy. (Jill Filipovic)

The soft life: why millennials are quitting the rat race. (The Guardian)

On moving through fear, for anonymous. (Mindfulness + Mutiny)

What would society look like if extreme wealth were impossible? (The Atlantic – gift article)

Your ultimate guide to the total solar eclipse, its path and how to watch. (Washington Post – gift article)

How to take a good photo of the solar eclipse on your phone. (Washington Post – gift article)

As someone who lives in the same city as Goddard Space Flight Center, some links my NASA neighbors shared in the community Facebook group in preparation for Monday:

• Eclipse viewing safety (NASA)
• Watch the eclipse live (NASA)

See/Hear/Read

My book club has done memoirs and autobiographies, and this month, we chose Acid for the Children by Flea, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I have loved RHCP since I first heard Uplift Mofo Party Plan in middle school and always felt Flea was the coolest of the crew. I was excited to read his memoir… actually I listened to the audiobook.

I highly recommend listening to this book. Narrated by Flea, he chuckles to himself, verbalizes the base lines he loved and was known for, his voice breaks when discussing a loved one who died. This is a great audiobook for a road trip or an otherwise mind-numbingly routine commute.

Flea will get all zen and in the next minute, give details on how to shoot up cocaine. He doesn't make excuses for past behavior but takes this opportunity to apologize to those he hurt in the process. He expresses raw love, pain, shame, and pride. He recognizes those who inspired him, motivated him, and helped him succeed either through mentoring or showing what not to do.

If you aren't into RHCP or the '80s punk rock scene, you may not enjoy this book. It essentially ends right when the famous band begins, so you won't get any insights into the Chili Peppers (beyond how Anthony Kiedis and Flea were high school buddies and partners in literal crime). But it was enjoyable to hear the life of someone who could have taken so many different roads but chose a journey that ended up with writing quite a beautiful, poetic memoir.

I had watched the previous two seasons of Girls5Eva but didn't think much when the third season came out. But my sister said she was watching it and straight up guffawing in most episodes so I decided to watch it (it's on Netflix). It's so stupid but it's also so smart and corny and funny and on point and did I mention it's stupid?

I realized how stupid it was when trying to tell my husband about an episode. See, our relative is married to someone from Yellowknife, and Yellowknife is mentioned in an episode this season. I told him, and he asked how it was referenced:

“Okay, so Paula Pell's character meets a Harry Styles character, and while the whole world knows who he is, she doesn't. Her character also collects animals and rehabs them on the tour van. Anyway, she realizes who Harry Styles is and helps him fake his death so he can escape stardom. And he escapes to Yellowknife where he's singing with acoustic guitar like Mark Wahlberg at the end of Rockstar, but he has these fox teeth… because the fox she was caring for died… no, it wasn't sad it was funny, he may have had rabies… because she's a dentist… she listens to all these true crime podcasts and she knew this kind of plane would fly without a pilot and pigs will eat human remains and she planted his real teeth… yeah it's a comedy it's hysterical!”

The references are so damn funny, and the way jokes weave in and out of stories… it's really stupid, but it's really smart, and if you need a quick fix of ridiculousness with women as the stars, I highly recommend Girls5Eva. I recommend starting with Season 1. The episodes are short, but stories from Season 1 are still popping up in Season 3, and you'll better understand the characters.

For Your Entertainment

In celebration of Women's History Month, hip-hop legend MC Lyte collaborated with Salt from Salt-N-Pepa, Big Daddy Kane, and Raheem Devaughn for the single “WOMAN.” MC Lyte became famous in the late '80s and was the first female rapper to release a solo album. The first female rapper nominated for a GRAMMY and the first rapper to perform at Carnegie Hall, Lana Michele Moorer (AKA MC Lyte) is also known for her voice work, acting, directing, and philanthropy.

Regarding “WOMAN,” MC Lyte shared, “Hip-hop in my era, and that prior to me, was all about leadership, stepping out in the world, having a global experience, bringing it back to the community, and taking stories from our communities and spreading it worldwide. The world, not just hip hop, has taken a backseat to holding the torch of being a positive influence and how much that matters to our community. I think it is not just entertainment, television, film, or music, but in general, it has been folks’ kind of separate, not realizing we’re much stronger together as a unit.”