Dames Nation, we hope you got to celebrate this week as heartily & cautiously as we did.
It certainly did blow our minds a tiny bit to watch and hear Amanda Gorman and realize how lucky we are to get to know her so early in her career.
On Wednesday, we got to see something that just two weeks prior, we weren’t sure would actually happen. One president slunk off to Florida in ignominy and another was sworn in surrounded by friends & allies, chief among them our first-ever vice president who is a Black & South Asian American woman. FINALLY.
FINALLY, we got to celebrate. Not like we did on November 7, when it felt like the whole country burst out of its cocoon to quite literally dance in the streets. This week’s celebration was more muted, smaller, humbler than that day, which is appropriate since it happened only by the skin of its teeth. We aren’t out of the woods, the damage of the last four years will take at least a decade to repair, and that’s only for those of us who survived. On Wednesday, I kept thinking about how so many -- far too many, so many I can’t fully comprehend the number -- did not survive, and how the holes in the hearts of their loved ones can never fully heal.
We all have to reckon with those losses and with the violent, virulent threat of a White Nationalist, anti-democratic movement that continues to stalk us all. We’re not going back to normal, because organized Nazi wannabes with zip ties made a battlefield out of the Capitol. There’s no going back to normal after that, and as it turns out, I don’t want to go back to normal. The pre-pandemic normal was pretty terrible, actually, and we need to continue to pursue a vision of government that creates policies and services that are concrete, helpful, and humane improvements for everyone, starting with our most vulnerable neighbors.
When you’re right, you’re right. Let’s all holler at our electeds until we get the society we all deserve!
Dame Sophie’s Serendipitous Cultural Juxapositions of the Week
I have become especially susceptible to this combination, truly the chocolate and peanut butter of my TV preferences lately
I’d seen many enthusiastic tweets about the AppleTV+ sitcom Ted Lasso, so I went into watching it with pretty high hopes. Guess what, friends? It’s even better than I thought it would be! The trailer sums it up very neatly and appealingly: an almost pathologically optimistic and folksy American football coach gets hired to coach a tough-as-nails London football club, causing hijinks and personal growth to ensue. If you need a show that will scratch your I Miss Coach Taylor itch, with high joke density, endearing characters who blossom in the light of genuinely interesting and nuanced story arcs, and at the center of it all, the premise that sincerity is good and healthy masculinity can take many forms, have I got a show for you. Bonus: if you’re a Philadelphia 76ers fan, an amazing Easter egg awaits you in Episode 6.
I didn’t have it in me to select a 2021 theme but I’m not at all immune to the flurry of “let’s try something new!” blandishments we all get at this time of year, and in combination with having gone down several Instagram rabbit holes, I’ve found myself knee-deep in the detailed and thoughtful guides at Thrift & Tell. It’s fun to scroll through the beautiful items highlighted in their Gift Guides and to think about what I might save up for using money gleaned from consigning some of the clothes & accessories that I’m ready to say goodbye to.
Lastly, because I just noticed it on YouTube, eminently watchable dialect coach Erik Singer is back with another video! The subject this time is North American accents of English speakers, and he’s brought in a whole bunch of linguists and language experts to respectfully address and include features of English dialects spoken by Indigenous, Black, and Latino speakers.
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A very silly Instagram account that nonetheless furnishes mirth-tears on an almost-daily basis, which is quite a feat!
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What a fortuitous link! I've sold a few things on Poshmark in the last few weeks and now I'm very into "what else can I sell?" mode. Not even for the money (though it is nice, ngl) but just the joy of things leaving me.