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TV:
Reservation Dogs on Hulu is BRILLIANT. Brilliant. It is written and acted by an all-indigenous crew. “From Co-Creators and Executive Producers Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma who steal, rob, and save in order to get to the exotic, mysterious, and faraway land of California.”
Honestly, the pilot episode wasn’t my favorite but the show gets better and better. Season 2 is even more profound than the first season. Watching Rez Dogs feels like being invited into a world I’ve only been given glimpses of. And friends, it is a warm and generous invitation. I am SO happy that there will be a third season coming soon. I don’t want to say too much more about it because part of the joy is watching it unfold.
Movie:
Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (2022) Directed by Sam Pollard & Geeta Gandbhir. I rented it on Amazon Prime. It’s a documentary and is an important example of truth-telling.
Here’s the blurb: “The passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 represented not the culmination of the Civil Rights Movement, but the beginning of a new, crucial chapter. Nowhere was this next battle better epitomized than in Lowndes County, Alabama, a rural, impoverished town with a vicious history of racist terrorism. In a town that was eighty percent Black but had zero Black voters, laws were just paper without power. This isn’t a story of hope but of action. Through first-person accounts and searing archival footage, LOWNDES COUNTY AND THE ROAD TO BLACK POWER tells the story of the local movement and young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers who fought not just for voting rights, but for Black Power in Lowndes County.”
Book:
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. I bet some of you have already read this but I’ve been waiting mmmmoooonnnntttthhhhhssss and it was finally my turn in the library hold line. I’m halfway through. Boy howdy, is this good.
This writing hooks you from the jump. Ever wondered what editors and agents mean by “voice,” as in “a book needs a unique voice”? Well, wonder no more. This is it. It is one of those books I know I’ll re-read even while I’m reading it the first time through.
I don’t read book reviews or keep up on literary culture (long story), so maybe this is widely known, but just in case:
Astute readers may notice that Demon Copperhead is a play on David Copperfield. No, not the cheeseball magician, the semi-autobiographical novel by Charles Dickens. Even the cover is an echo of David Copperfield:
»cover of the first serial edition of David Copperfield, 1849, from Wikipedia.«
… as is much of the plot. When I’m done rereading Demon Copperhead, you can bet I’ll be revisiting the Dickens. Oof. It took me decades to shake off the forced eighth grade reading of Great Expectations, but I’m there now.
Ah, well. “Better late than really really late,” as my dad used to say.
Podcast:
One of my favorite easy-breezy-lemon-squeezy just-for-fun-just-pure-fun podcasts is I Hate It But I Love It.
It’s about “all the pop culture [mostly movies] you hate and love simultaneously.” Hosted by millennial Canadians Joceyln and Kat, it is a lovely, thoughtful, and hilarious romp through movies — good, bad, and in between. A perfect pick-me-up on a bad day, or to keep you company as you scrub your way through that stack of dirty dishes.
App:
Down Dog Yoga. I’ve been practicing yoga for a lot of years and I’m picky about teachers and pose guidance. I’ve tried several yoga apps and this is my favorite by far. It’s like taking a different class every time you show up to the mat. Whether you’re a beginner, dabbler, or pro, this app has you covered.
It offers heaps of different styles of yoga, including: chair yoga, full practice, restorative, guided meditation, Hatha, Yin, sleep meditation, gentle, various kinds of flow yoga, Ashtanga, Yoga Nidra (“meditative yogic sleep”), and Hot 26, whatever that is.
It also has lots of options for voices, cues (lots or little), speed, and music, and five skill levels from beginner to advanced. Also you can set “boosts,” like core strength, flexibility, back strength, hip stretches, and more.
Plus, if you want it, you can set it up to a full 15 minutes of my very favorite pose: shavasana (a.k.a. corpse pose, a.k.a lying down and relaxing).
Food:
I’m not a cook. Many of you know this. But I won’t let that stop me. Here’s this week’s recipe:
OK. Have you ever mixed a honking big spoonful of peanut butter (preferably unsweetened but salty) into a bowl of vanilla ice cream? And mashed it together? And then maybe added chocolate chips — or Reeses cups if you have them?
Yeah, baby. You know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t yet: what are you waiting for?
And yes, for us non-cooks, this counts as a recipe.
Random Recommendation:
Behold: the hammock chair.
I have lower back pain, arthritis, and mild scoliosis, all of which make sitting painful. The hammock chair? Game changer. In this bad boy, I can wiggle, stretch, and relax - all without any pain or pressure points.
Okay, okay, I hear you in the standing desk crowd and your cawing. Yes, a standing desk is better than sitting. But let’s face it: standing is no fun for reading your favorite Substack (ahem) or relaxing with a glass of white wine with ice cubes in it. I’m in my office chair right now, y’all. (No wine yet.)
If you’re thinking, “Uh, J. J., your office looks a lot like a closet with a hammock hanging from the doorframe.” Yes. It does because it is. When you have a small house, you make do. Nobody puts Baby in a corner except Baby herself.
Except for the six months of the year when the back porch is my office. Much better view:
As you can infer from the photo, the hammock chair is not just for folks with back pain. Normies love them, too.
BONUS: a hammock chair makes a great Mother’s / Father’s Day gift or spring/summer birthday gift. I like the $40 one I use in my “office” because it comes with a collapsible bar, which means you can take it on trips. Here’s a slightly more bougie version ($70) with a pretty wooden bar (pictured in the middle of the porch above) if you want to splurge on someone.
If you’re wondering about the doorframe situation, I use these clamps. Make sure your molding is sturdy.
That’s it for this week’s Thursday Things.
Next week, for paid subscribers only:
the movie that makes menopausal T’ai Chi more magical
a TV show that makes us cry from laughter, is a little TOO relatable, *and* has something to do with an ancient Greek philosopher
podcast nepotism
a money-saving D.I.Y. “Poo-Pourri” recipe to spritz into the loo before you go number two
and much, much more
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Xoxo