So Much To Recommend

Dear Friends,

I hope you are in need of some recommendations because I’ve got a lot to share this week. I’ll start with new (to me) artists. The drawing above was inspired by Samia Halaby, an artist from Palestine who paints the most beautiful and colorful paintings, inspired by her memories of Palestine. She’s very awesome and political. A recent retrospective of her work was recently cancelled before it opened because she’s, well, Palestinian(-American). When you have 8 minutes, I recommend that you watch this video portrait. I think you will be inspired as well.

Another new-to-me artist is Arleene Correa-Valencia, a Mexican artist living in Northern California whose recent works focus on immigrants and family separation. Brook has been fascinated by her work for months, and I finally go to see it in person last week at her gallery. We ended up buying a piece of her work from her Somos Visibles project (not pictured at the link). In much of her work, she uses fabrics and textile crafts from Mexico, which she embroiders with the outlines of migrants in reflective and glow-in-the-dark thread, so that when it is dark, the children in the images are alone. I’ll share an image of what we bought when it arrives (assuming B doesn’t snag it for his office).

A new-to-me, and new-to-a-lot-of-people, comedian Ramy Youssef did a great job on SNL this weekend. If you didn’t watch it, I recommend Ozempic for Ramadan and the Immigrant Dads Talk Show. For annoying reasons (capitalism), NBC doesn’t make SNL sketches available online for free but if you check the SNL instagram account, they are probably posted. I had already watched Ramy Youssef’s new comedy special More Feelings (on HBO) last week so I was prepared to be charmed again, and I was. Watch the special too.

The bigger takeaway from SNL was that when the show has hosts from historically underrepresented backgrounds, it is much funnier. Like the skit with Pedro Pascal as the Spanish-speaking mother. Or literally anything Ego Nwodim does (Rich Auntie? Lisa from Temecula?). It demonstrates why diversity improves a traditionally all-white, mostly male space. SNL has a broader set of cultural references to draw from when they have more cultures represented and it’s much funnier.

I appreciate that SNL isn’t some kind of under-the-radar cultural phenomenon that you haven’t heard of, and neither is my next recommendation: Cowboy Carter, the new Beyonce album. Most of you have already listened to it (I hope) but I actually know people who refuse to listen to it because, yes, I know people whose racism and narrow-mindedness prevent them from experiencing new things lest their biases be undermined by new information. I assume you are not one of those people, so again, please go listen. At least to Jolene, for God’s sake.

Another new album I needed to hurry up and listen to was Sleater-Kinney’s new album Little Rope because I had tickets to see them on Saturday night. I hadn’t listened to the album because I was feeling like, “I’ve heard a lot of Sleater-Kinney in my life. Do I need more?” And the answer turned out to be “Yes.” I haven’t listened to the album enough times to say whether it’s in the Pantheon of Great Albums or not, but the show was amazing. Possibly one of the best ones I’ve been to. The music was tight, loud, controlled-and-also-out-of-control. I miss Janet Weiss, their longest-running drummer, but I appreciate that they are not bogged down by highlighting other musicians. Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker are real rock stars now, and Carrie in particular has ascended to Mick Jagger-levels of rock goddess energy.

Turning to podcasts - must we? you ask - I started listening to Valley Heat on Jason Zinoman’s recommendation and I find it hilarious. Valley Heat is a podcast about the Rancho Equestrian neighborhood of Burbank, California (not a real place) and the goings-on of Doug Duguay, his neighbors, his pool guy, and his father-in-law. All the promos are scored with ridiculous theme songs by the Randy Poole and Cephalods Are People band. I now crave a “Cheers credits picture themed fabric jacket” from Jan Robinson’s Shirts and Pants. I could go on but the whole show is just silly inside jokes that loop around, getting funnier and funnier and occasionally exhausting.

And another favorite podcast, Wiser Than Me, is back for season two. Today’s episode with Bonnie Raitt was so awesome, I don’t know why I haven’t been a huge Bonnie Raitt fan my whole life, and I plan to remedy that. In the last episode, Julia Louis-Dreyfus interviewed Sally Fields. I know some readers may find Sally annoying (looking at you, mom) but it’s worth listening to because I think you will like her more.

While I am on the topic of inspiring older women, I also recommend Nyad, the movie starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster about Diana Nyad, the ultra long distance swimmer. Bening’s performance is so strong that it makes the viewer root for a difficult and hard-to-like protagonist. A friend told me she didn’t want to watch the movie because she heard Nyad is not very nice, but her temperament is either beside the point or it’s entirely the point. People who excel like Nyad are maniacally focused on their goal, not spending much time on pleasantries like love and care. Nyad has a fair share of real hurdles that explain her toughness, too. Anyway, good movie. See it.

Are you tired of me yet? Maybe not, but I’m tired of typing. I will save the rest of my recommendations for next week. Have a good one! Love, Me.