Books

Akwaeke Emezi’s You Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty

Whewww, what a book about being alive. The implorement to live reminds me of Princess Mononoke, tbh.

Ed. Andrea Purcell’s Sordid Past

An Iron Circus comic anthology is guaranteed to be great art and very gay. Their Smut Peddler line continues to be some of the best erotica anthologies on the market. This one is no exception.

Re-reads: Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels #6-9 + Iron Covenant #1

Smart, hilarious, and unforgettable characters you love dearly. In other words, magic.

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Film/TV

Nadiya Hussain’s Fast Flavours

Haven’t finished this yet, but this was much needed escapism.

Everything Everywhere All At Once dir. The Daniels

Whewwwww.

Love and Leashes dir. Hyeon-jin Park

A fluffy, kinky romcom? 10/10 recommend.

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Articles

Lauren Hepler’s She sold her home for nearly half its $1 million value. The ‘pay it forward’ deal is a new tactic in the Bay Area’s housing crisis

“in January, the 81-year-old finalized a deal to sell her Point Reyes home at a steep discount to the Community Land Trust of West Marin, better known as CLAM, which buys property off the high-priced private market and converts it into affordable homes. In Loeb’s case, it’s a deal that will allow her to live the rest of her life in the house with no monthly payment, then entrust CLAM to pay it forward to others in need of lower-cost housing.

“…many California families, passing down a home that’s mostly or completely paid off is the biggest opportunity in a generation to build wealth. Loeb said her children supported the plan to forgo some of those financial gains, and she saw it as a chance to settle her mind in her golden years while leaving something behind for others struggling to crack into an increasingly out-of-reach housing market.”

Elena Kadvany’s Why these Bay Area restaurants list every worker’s name on the menu

“Pizza hit Square Pie Guys doesn’t have paper menus, but its website now lists every employee along with their photos and titles. Dishwashers and prep cooks are purposefully featured first, with owners and managers at the bottom of the page.

“What we’re trying to say is everyone’s equally important,” said co-owner Danny Stoller.

Square Pie Guys made the web page during the pandemic, and the owners hope that showing the faces and names of typically less-visible employees elevates conversations about living wages in the Bay Area.

“I would love it if a dishwasher working for Square Pie Guys could buy a house in the Bay Area. (But) I don’t think I can get away with charging $200 for a pizza,” Stoller said.”

“[Stella] Dennig [of Daytrip], while proud of Daytrip’s menu, feels wary of giving it too much attention. She worries that staff names on menus could become just a buzzy trend — a form of virtue signaling that doesn’t necessarily mean workers are being taken care of behind the scenes.”

Ed Yong’s How Did This Many Deaths Become Normal?

“The inequities that were overlooked in this pandemic will ignite the next one—but they don’t have to. Improving ventilation in workplaces, schools, and other public buildings would prevent deaths from COVID and other airborne viruses, including flu. Paid sick leave would allow workers to protect their colleagues without risking their livelihood. Equitable access to antivirals and other treatments could help immunocompromised people who can’t be protected through vaccination. Universal health care would help the poorest people, who still bear the greatest risk of infection. A universe of options lies between the caricatured extremes of lockdowns and inaction, and will save lives when new variants or viruses inevitably arise.”