Staunchly, vol. 64: DC is for the Goys

7/22/18

Happy Leo season! Or is it tomorrow? I can’t get a handle on these cusps for the life of me. All I’ll say is that today I said to my mom, “I just don’t even feel like you’re engaging with my content,” which—I’m sorry—if that does not signal the start of Thirsty Carnivorous Showboat Month, I don’t know what does.
 
If you’re new, welcome! Staunchly is my newsletter/aspiring high-low lifestyle brand (imagine: if the supplements at GOOP came in a sour cream & onion varietal) about politics, feminism, pop culture, beauty, and mental illness. References range from Neopets to Thorstein Veblen. Tenderness and authenticity are the goal—laughs, a happy byproduct. If this interests you, please make yourself at home! I don’t bite, unless asked nicely.
 
Let’s jump in. 

*I’m behind on my reading so here is just a very curious mix of interesting pieces.*
 
This New Yorker piece about (specifically) the passing of the last surviving munchkin and (grandly) otherness brought me to tears.  
 

Gay people, trans people, little people: we’re all born in helpless diaspora, and reconstituting the dandelion is the dilemma of our lives. For the hundred and twenty-four little people who descended on the set of Munchkinland, it was a moment of homecoming.

 
Two rapists in Italy could be freed because the survivor “willingly consumed alcohol.”
 
Lauren Groff, author of the sensational new short story collection Florida, gave the best ever answer to a question about how she balances motherhood and career.

 
You can now take a 90-minute guided tour of all the art at the Louvre featured in the “Apeshit” video. This might actually be the thing that gets me back to Paris.   
 
I’m just the messenger: the randiest historical dramas on Netflix.
 
I can’t bring myself to read Barack Obama’s Nelson Mandela lecture, but maybe you can. I’m struggling with understanding what I want or expect from Obama in this new era. The simple answer is: more.
 
Pikachu cut bangs. Oh, honey.
 
The Donner Party rides the Q train.
 
There is nothing inherently artistic or worthwhile about the male gaze. Support female artists. And f*ck Picasso.
 
There’s so much culture to consume these days, I genuinely get excited when I come across something I have no intention of ever absorbing. I’m excited to not watch the new Sacha Baron Cohen project. But good on him for giving rape-denier Kurt Metzger a writing gig! Can’t keep a good guy down, amirite?
 
J.Crew has a new size-inclusive collaboration with the Basics Plus™ clothing brand Universal Standard. It’s a refreshing move from a brand that has started to feel stale.
 
I’ve been drinking so much Aperol this summer, but so is everyone. Lol we are all sheep. 

This week on Joint Didion we talked about Heartburn by Nora Ephron, whether Lauren’s dad was a slut in his youth, and why DC was far too goyish for me. Also, I continue to giggle too much and Lauren and Danny gaslight me re: The Torkelsons. Fun for the whole family guaranteed. Listen here.

Also, should I sell this as a print? 
 

Here's a perfect peach pie recipe from Nora Ephron (source: Heartburn):

Staunchly yours, 

Carey