if you're reading this, i made it back from the dentist.
often i put off writing the intro to this newsletter because i convince myself that if i wait long enough i’ll have some big epiphany i can share.
no such luck this week.
instead, enjoy the following.
a list of things i remember from being on nitrous at the dentist this morning:
the dental assistant asked if i needed the nitrous turned down and i said, “i’m pretty high.”
at one point i dropped my arms down by my side and they kind of splayed out and i thought “i wonder if they’ll think i’m dead when they come back in here” which i thought was hilarious. and then the fact that i was laughing made me laugh more.
decided my laugh was cute and wondered if the dentist would think so too. then practiced the particular sound i’d made several times. (honestly, thank god i was in a room with floor-to-ceiling walls instead of just those half-walls.) made myself laugh practicing the laugh.
while waiting for the dentist and his assistant to come back from checking on another patient, i became certain that my sisters, mary-kate and ashley, were tickling my neck with a snake. it was the bib. also i am not related to the olsen twins.
the dental assistant put a crown in my mouth and told me not to swallow it if it fell out while she took an x-ray, and i kept repeating “don’t move your face. don’t move your face,” in my head. was then shocked to find my face had not moved.
mid-root canal, the dentist was talking about a remodel they did years before. had to talk myself out of stopping the procedure to ask if he knew a client we work with.
noticed that the great british bake off, which had been playing on the television in the ceiling, had stopped. thought, “aw man, i was watching that.” girl, no you were not.
definitely fell asleep. probably snored.
what i’m watching.
the people’s choice awards were on tuesday, and while i didn’t watch the awards live, they provided some incredible gems, like this video of mariska hargitay talking to kelly clarkson’s 8-year-old daughter about why she loves kelly’s music (me too, girl); mariska hargitay’s acceptance speech, where she talked about the importance of choice, kindness, and compassion; lizzo’s acceptance speech, which highlighted activists she believed deserved the spotlight; ryan reynolds’ acceptance speech, where he highlighted his family and the organizations he has founded that prioritize bringing diverse people to the storytelling, entertainment, and marketing industries (the group effort initiative and creative ladder); and shania twain’s performance (i’m so glad she’s performing and releasing music again).
when i was 12, i watched coyote ugly for the first time and fell madly in love. though i didn’t truly realize it until well into my twenties, i developed a massive crush on the abrupt, sassy bar owner, lil, played by maria bello. truthfully, i developed a massive crush on maria bello that persists to this day (i may have hinted at this last week). she published a book in 2015 that is definitely on my list, but recently i watched her ted talk from 2015’s tedwomen about how love doesn’t need labels and thought it was funny and super endearing. honestly, long live my crush on maria bello. i’ll never give that up.
last night’s episode of law & order: svu was the final episode for amanda rollins, played by kelli giddish. the episode was super well done, for a number of reasons. they sent her off really well.
last night was also trevor noah’s final night on the daily show. his thank you to the fans and the black women who shaped his life was really wonderful.
what i’m listening to.
meghan trainor released an acapella version of her song “made you look” that features scott hoying (of pentatonix), sri, chris olsen, and elyse myers. i could not stop smiling watching the video. such joy!!
what i’m reading.
brittney griner is home! there is some criticism on how this was handled and the fact that the us was not able to get paul whelan also (especially considering which prisoner was sent back to russia), but honestly you can miss me with all of that. a queer black woman was held hostage in a foreign country and now she’s home.
related, paul whelan’s brother david released a beautiful statement about brittney’s release and reaffirmed the whelan family’s desperate plea for paul to be brought home. these two cases are parallel but disparate, and i have faith that our administration is doing everything possible to bring paul whelan back to his family.
i finished two other forthcoming novels from zibby books recently, and i cannot wait for y’all to get your hands on these:
super bloom by megan tady is about a massage therapist named joan who lives in vermont and is both grieving and also not doing great at her job. in a last ditch effort to save her livelihood, joan partners with bestselling romance novelist carmen bronze and begins taking notes about things that happen at work to pass on to carmen for her next book—only to discover that she’d rather use them to write her own novel. this is maybe one of my favorite books i’ve read this year. i love the setting (i’m actually considering a move to vermont), i love the characters, i loved learning about super blooms…it’s truly a masterpiece. pre-order it here!
hedge by jane delury is about maud, a garden historian and devoted mom who desperately does not want to be married anymore. she strikes up a friendship (and maybe something more) with a coworker at her summer job in the Hudson Valley, and then on one day everything falls apart. the repercussions reverberate for years, shifting who maud and her daughters become. jane delury is a magical writer and i can’t really tell you who my favorite character is because it spoils a whole thing but i’m obsessed with this book. obsessed. pre-order it here!
a couple of other things.
i got word the other day that i was accepted as a volunteer for the sundance film festival in january, and i’m thrilled. i’ve wanted to attend sundance since i was 14 years old. i’m volunteering at one of the salt lake city locations, but plan to make my way up to park city for at least one day. volunteers get access to waitlist tickets, so fingers crossed i’ll be able to see something while i’m up there. currently i’m interested in both pretty baby: brooke shields and still: a michael j. fox movie, but i haven’t read about all of the movies yet. they release the schedule next week so we’ll see what happens!
i am trying to teach myself how to solve a rubik’s cube but it’s hard!! tips are appreciated.
looks like that’s it from me this week. i hope you find joy in something unexpected over the weekend!
love you 3000.
— mb.