Friday Five: November 8, 2024
I'm tired of living in unprecedented times
This should come to a surprise to absolutely no one but I’m devastated at the results of the election this week, and I’m sure so many of you are as well. I hope you’re taking care of yourself this weekend, in whatever form feels right to you. Whether that’s a mug of steamy tea under a blanket, or at a bar with your bestie, or cooking for someone you love (or perhaps like my friend Raisa, cooking batch meals for her community fridge!).
This Friday Five is a medley of substance and irreverence, typed as I sit on a plane taking me to Manchester. There’s a man in a MAGA hat in the row behind me and I guess seeing those hats is just a sad sign of things to come. Thank you for being a consumer, I love you.
News You Can Use: Grateful to Jessica at
for sharing initial ideas about actions people can take to protect themselves and others when it comes to abortion rights.
Music: Rest in Peace to the legend Quincy Jones. I could probably write an entire Consumed or a Friday Five on him alone. His music, his art, his penchant for yoga before any of us were doing it, his hot gossip, him creating The Fresh Prince… The sheer range of his talent and brilliance knew no bounds and I will forever remain in awe. This playlist has some of the incredible hits he produced and is perfect for a weekend morning.
Mutual Aid Resources: For the New Yorkers, my dear friend Anja just updated Never Sleep, her directory of organizations, fundraisers, and mutual aid efforts to benefit vulnerable New Yorkers, focused on grassroots organizers. With this website, Anja’s goal is “make it simpler to do what New Yorkers do best: help each other.” Thank you, Anja.
Another Brilliant Mutual Aid Group: The Trans Defense Fund in LA is an organization I’ve supported the past few years both in a work capacity and a personal one. They provide trans individuals across LA with safety kits, self-defense classes, resources, and care kits. We have got to do better and do more to support our trans siblings everywhere, and this group is doing great work.
Comedic Relief: I think Caleb Hearon is the voice of our generation. He is one of the funniest people on our wretched internet. I would do all of the things in Bruno Mars’s 2010 banger Grenade for him — would jump in front of a train for him, throw my head on the blade for him, etc. Goodness, that song was dramatique. Anyway, there is one specific video of his that I have watched on a bi-weekly basis over the past few months. I cannot get enough of it. I love making my friends watch it and seeing them cry laughing. I repeatedly use the phrases ‘that’s ohana,’ ‘I almost wonder what shape the bottle is,’ ‘that’s gang, that’s fam’ even when very few people understand the reference. This story is the perfect mix of universally embarrassing thing that we all experienced some version of (maybe I’ll share traumatic fart stories on here one day that will resonate) with such specificity that will make you cackle. You need this laughter.
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The other great thing about this story is that it has spurred its own fan content.
Cooper is fam,
Roya
Caleb is the only podcast I consume on a regimented and committed basis. It’s perfect
This post has helped me in so many ways. Thank you always for your thoughtful work ♥️