Weekly Roundup #34: Engagements and World Cups
(Writing this at the beginning of the past week) Well, last week was Fourth of July, but, more importantly, my oldest friend thus far was married to the man of her dreams in a beautiful, classic ceremony in the adorable town of Alexandria, VA. I love a good reunion, don't you? I also loved saying byeeeeeee to Scott Pruitt, but moving on. This is my first full week at work in weeks...can't complain about those good ol' summer days—longer, warmer, sunnier and more likely to be spent on vacation.
Reading
What the Dead Know, Laura Lippman.
A Spool of Blue Thread, Anne Tyler.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman. I've been wanting to read this book foreeevvver so I'm pumped I finally got to borrow it from a coworker. Update: It's a charming, wonderful read!
Glittery Unicorn Pizza Is an Actual Thing (and We’re Not Sure How to Feel About This), PureWow. Oh, I am so sure how I feel about this. I'M OBSESSED. I want this right now. I cannot emphasize how much this is literally everyone I love in one item. This is a dream! ✨🌈🦄🍕
Meet Alex Lahey, the Melbourne Musician On the Rise, Milk.xyz. "We’ve all really gone through the same shit more or less, just in different packaging." Lurve, lurve, lurrrvvve her! Check out "Every Day's the Weekend," "I Haven't Been Taking Care of Myself" and "Perth Traumatic Stress Disorder." (I chose to ignore the incorrect usages of "who's" instead of "whose" and "your" instead of "you're" in this article.)
Issa Rae Finally Got An Emmy Nod & I Can't Stop Crying, Refinery29. Yes, gurl, YES!
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin Are Engaged After a Month. Does That Ever Actually Work Out? Men's Health. Can I take a guess? No?
Why Won’t Any of My Friends Set Me Up? The Cut. I've been following this writer, Maria Del Russo, for a couple years now and always enjoy her pieces, even though I'm in a relationship. (She also wrote the Men's Health article above.)
‘Queer Eye’s’ Jonathan Van Ness is a one-man meme machine ready to take down toxic masculinity. Can you believe? The Washington Post. Ok, I seriously need to get on this and watch this show.
Did Kylie Jenner Deserve Her ‘Forbes’ Honor? Nylon. Fuck. No. Using your family's TV stardom and parents' wealth to create a thriving cosmetic company is *almost* impressive, if not for the "family's TV stardom and parents' wealth" part. It's infuriating that they call her "self-made" without any nod to the massive advantages she had.
An Instagram Model Was Attacked By A Shark While Trying To Get A Pretty Beach Pic, Buzzfeed. I'm sorry, but did anyone else snort while reading this headline? One, "Instagram model" always gets me. That is the loosest job description and terminology you can possibly use right now. Two, "I am lucky to have my hand." Look at the bite...there's no way that would have cause any type of lost limb (excluding infection, of course). I do give her credit and major props for staying calm and also for not blaming the sharks. Also, "attacked" is not the right word at all, way to clickbait, Buzzfeed. It was curious about this new creature in its habitat, that's all.
Stop Asking Me If I ‘Saved Room’ for Dessert, Eater. I can appreciate the difficulties someone battling an eating disorder would have going to a restaurant, even if they're more in a recovery phase. However, as a former server, some of these are just a little much. I mean, I would have never made a comment about how much or little someone ate or even asked if you "saved room for dessert"—those are cheesy things none of my former coworkers or I would have said. But asking server or bussers not to clear clean plates until everyone is finished? Sorry, but it's not gonna happen. First, my managers were the ones breathing down everyone's neck to clear the tables as soon as possible, to encourage people to the next course and to generally get tables out faster. It's basically a main point of your job as a server, to bus tables, even if you have an actual busser. Second, as a diner, I think it's disgusting to sit with everyone's dirty plates and, honestly, if I'm done eating I want the plate gone or in a to-go box to take home. If it's just sitting in front of me, I'll keep picking at it. My grandma demands this whenever we go out to dinner with her and my mom and I haaate it. Also, I'm sorry, but not being able to use words like "healthy, filling or rich" excessively narrows your descriptors for food and if your dining partners ask the difference between two entrees, we're not thinking about trigger words. Trust me, I can't imagine what it must be like to go through life when an eating disorder, it sounds horrible, but some of these are just too much to ask from strangers. Or, at least, your server. If you want to make the changes listed in this article, it has to start from the top. Managers are the ones encouraging certain descriptions, they're the ones who will yell at you for not clearing Table 32 fast enough, it's just not up to the servers.
Is There a Place for Hooters in 2018? GQ. I don't know anyone who's even been to a Hooters in the last, at least, five years. I can't even remember the last time I saw one. Probably my college town.
‘Life-Size 2’ Is In The Works With A New Co-Star, Nylon. I'm readyyyyyy!
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin Are Engaged: How He Proposed, E! News. WHAT IS HAPPENING. Also, he and Selena were together as recently as early this year. How's that for a rebound? No, thank you. Also, if she wasn't dating Shawn Mendes (ahem, a few weeks ago), why did she feel the need to erase all trace of him from her Instagram? Hmm? HMMMM? Yeah, this is just, ugh, kids. (Says the not much adultier 26-year-old)
How One Tweet About Nicki Minaj Spiraled Into Internet Chaos, The New York Times. The dark and petulant side of social media. This poor woman. How dare people bring her young, innocent daughter into this. Also, stans scare the shit out of me, they are psyyyyycho.
World Cup 2018 semi-finals: France beats Belgium, CBS. Too bad France isn't playing Saturday instead of Belgium. Wouldn't that be a great Bastille Day celebration if they won?
Croatia vs. England Live, The Guardian. Hot damn, first World Cup final EVER for Croatia!
HBO Dethroned for the First Time in 18 Years by Netflix, Variety. Holy streaming. Y'all coming throoouuugh! So many shows to catch up on...
Twitter's Crackdown on Fake Accounts Will Make You Look Less Popular, Bloomberg. I meaaann, I'll be good with my 100-something followers, lol, but sorry to all those D-list celebs who bought fake followers to try and look relevant. 🤷🏼♀️
Shocking! IHOP admits it faked IHOb name chang, CBS. Sooooo...shocking...but it worked! First time anyone's probably talked about IHOP in years.
Sacha Baron Cohen reveals promo, premiere date for new Showtime series, Entertainment Weekly. This should be interesting.
Thai cave rescue: Soccer team all out of cave, CBS. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Thai cave: Four boys saved, the rest wait for rescue to resume Monday, Reuters. These poor boys. And that poor diver. But thank god they should be out soon! Their families must be overcome with relief.
High-energy 'ghost particle' traced to distant galaxy in astronomy breakthrough, NBC. I honestly can't even understand about 80% of this article's terminology, but this sounds like a big deal.
Duterte vows to resign if anybody can prove God exists, AP. Lolllll. I'd love the see the photos people will try to use.
Japan floods: At least 100 dead after record rainfall, BBC. They've received three times as much rain in the first week of July as the usual amount for the whole of the month. Tell me again how climate change isn't happening.
Walk or die: Algeria strands 13,000 migrants in the Sahara, AP. This is appalling, inexcusable and a human rights abuse. How dare they.
New details in book about Emmett Till’s death prompted officials to reopen investigation, The Washington Post. Horrifying. He was 14 years old. 14.
TSA screeners win immunity from abuse claims: appeals court, Reuters. No. What. This is so fucking stupid. Way to pave the way for future abuse of power. Mind you, this was the response to a case filed by a woman who was pulled aside for random screening, then jailed unnecessarily for 18 hours. 18 hours. But sure, let's let TSA screeners do whatever the fuck they want.
Papa John's Founder Quits As Chairman After Using The N-Word During Conference Call, NPR. Ok, to be honest, this wasn't as bad as I thought, he was restating something someone else said, buuuutt DON'T SAY THAT WORD! How hard is that?
NFLPA files grievance challenging NFL's new anthem policy, claims it 'infringes on player rights', CBS. This is so stupid. People are allowed to peacefully protest, that is a staple of the United States, even for the scums of the earth skinheads. Why is this such a huge issue? Because of fucking Trump. Because he can't leave anything remotely modern alone.
Nevada to become first state to execute inmate with fentanyl, The Guardian. They ended up delaying the execution due to the fact that the drug company didn't want their product, midazolam, used as it is a common ingredient in "botched executions." This all happened less than 11 hours before the execution was to occur. Double also..."A third company, Pfizer, last year demanded Nevada return the third drug intended for use in the execution, the powerful opioid fentanyl. But the state has refused." Sooo here we are.
Donald Trump cancels London visit amid protest fears, The Guardian. Please excuse me while I take five minutes to laugh heartily.
Call for giant baby-Trump balloon to fly over Scottish golf course, Politico. I'm dead. Not only was there a call for this balloon, it was already given permission to fly near the London parliament after a petition called “Let Trump Baby Fly” received over 10,000 signatures. 😂😂😂 so now they want to fly it over a golf course as he plays. Because of course he's going to play golf. Thank you, sane people of the UK. Those of us Americans horrified at the state of our country appreciate you.
Donald Trump told Theresa May how to do Brexit ‘but she wrecked it’ – and says the US trade deal is off, The Sun. You pompous fool.
Trump Poised to Enter NATO Meeting as Wild Card Among Allies, The New York Times. TO THE REST OF THE WORLD: there are a lot of people out here in the US that are not insane egotistical cheetos. A lot of us DO support progress and international relations. For those who fit that description, this POS does not represent us. We think he's an unpredictable, crazy fuck too.
Ex-diplomats caution — and credit — Trump before NATO, Putin meetings, Politico. They had to write him a letter cautioning him on how to behave. THE PRESIDENT OF THE United States HAS TO BE WARNED HOW TO BEHAVE LIKE A CHILD. Just let that sink in...we've had almost two years to do so unfortunately.
'It's Insane': Trump Supreme Court Pick Still In The Air, NPR. I hate everything. Why couldn't Kennedy have retired like year 5 of Obama's era? And why did the Republicans have to halt his SCOTUS pick? Because EVERYONE SUCKS. So, yeah. That's where we're at in America.
Trump taps federal appeals court Judge Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court, NBC. Can I get a hellll NAH!! This joker is an originalist...aka wants to take the Constitution literally as written, never mind the centuries of progress that have passed. Also, this: "In a 2009 law review article, Kavanaugh said his experience in the White House persuaded him that 'the job of president is far more difficult than any other civilian position in government' and that presidents should be exempt from civil lawsuits and criminal investigations or prosecutions while in office." Can you say, Mueller?
Trump admin temporarily halting some payments under Obamacare program, CNN. "This action will significantly increase 2019 premiums for millions of individuals and small business owners and could result in far fewer health plan choices. It will undermine Americans' access to affordable coverage, particularly those who need medical care the most." Some insurers are now requesting 2019 premium hikes in the double digits...how many times have I called this crew of egotistical, backward trash bags "asshats?" Let's add one more. What a bunch of ASSHATS.
Trump Administration Seeks More Time To Reunify Migrant Families, NPR. Yeah, shocker. Because you separated so many children and even deported their parents without said children, you now can't get them all back together. Who's surprised? Not I.
Will Theresa May Still Be Prime Minister When Donald Trump Visits? Newsweek. Oy vay. I do not envy that woman.
Supreme Court upholds death penalty in India gang rape in final appeal, CNN. Good 👏🏼 job 👏🏼 Indian 👏🏼 Supreme 👏🏼 Court! Three cheers for a minuscule amount of progress and common decency.
Turkey Purges More Than 18,600 Civil Servants in 11th-Hour Decree, Bloomberg. Ay yi yi. And remember, Erdogan now has the power of a president and a prime minister...
Listening
"Up and Vanished," Payne Lindsey. I finally started listening to "Atlanta Monster" and realized it was a follow up to "Up and Vanished," so naturally had to pause and finally start listening to that podcast. I've had both of these downloaded in my app for months now, whoops.
Watching
Heaven Wasn't Made For Me, Terror Jr. I don't know if y'all know this, but I love Terror Jr (jk, I know y'all know 😉) and this is their first release since the Bop City era ended annnd their on-screen debut. I am HERE for it! 🍇🍇
Sharp Objects, HBO. This is literally my favorite book. My copy is falling apart and the spine is coming loose, that’s how much I love this. I finally watched the first episode and I’m so impressed. Gillian Flynn is a producer, which is comforting because they should stay pretty true to the novel. I was particularly nervous they would exclude one huge detail about Camille‘s looks because it seems it would be difficult to do, but they pulled it off impeccably. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season goes!
