Welcome to the Friday Five, the weekly newsletter bringing joy, lols, and delight to your inbox. I hope you’re consuming this with a warm beverage. Relax your jaw, if it isn’t already. We made it to Friday.
Video: This video of Stormzy visiting his elementary alma mater is maybe one of my most watched videos of all time. It never fails to make me lol. I have a soft spot for Stormzy as well as children with English accents, so this video really ticks all the boxes, including a small child asking if Stormzy “picks his nose and eats it.” I quote this video often and no one understands the reference, please watch it only so we can say to each other “Why do you not like wastemen? They come every Wednesday and do a good job.”
Historical Moment: 20 years ago, the music video for Dilemma by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland showed us the future of technology: Kelly ‘texting’ via Microsoft Excel. I’ve been consumed by this three second scene for two decades. I still don’t have a great grasp of excel, so like Kelly, I start my all spreadsheets with “WHERE YOU AT? HOLLA WHEN YOU GET THIS” hoping someone, anyone (mainly the paper clip wizard or the green M&M) gets it. A few years ago, the hosts of The Real asked Kelly about this, who admitted she has no idea what Excel even is. Aspirational!!
Recipe: It’s warm scone season. Tuck in with these delightful maple-blueberry scones, courtesy of Joanne Chang. They’re both flaky like a biscuit and soft like cake (also how I describe myself after two years in a pandemic) because of the way the butter is combined. You’ll want to drink the maple glaze by itself and dunk the warm scones straight into it. Enjoy — and if you don’t have NYTCooking, email me for a PDF of the recipe.
Seasons Greetings: Last week brought us the first day of the year where the sun started to set after 5:00pm. That time keeps getting later and later as we head into spring. Soon enough the birds will chirp and that heavy jacket will go back into storage, and we’ll feel the warm sun on our skin again. For now, I’ll remind myself that every day from here on gets a little brighter.
Joyful Internet Content:
HOLLA WHEN YOU GET THIS,
Roya