Go Get That "D" (vitamin D!)
Leftovers from the week of March 14
Hi Dear Readers,
I have been absolutely dragging this week (I’m blaming Daylight Savings). I’m also blaming the fact that I just found out I am vitamin D deficient. Aren’t we all? But is your current level at a 15 when “normal” levels are between 30 and 80? I knew my levels were probably low, but truly did not think they were THAT low. Though, it makes sense since I’m a vampire who hates the sun (I love garlic though). I’m about to start taking prescription strength vitamin D and I’m honestly very excited. I don’t want to think this will change my life, but damn, maybe it will.
The only reason I even thought about getting my vitamin D tested was because I heard someone talking about it and I thought, “Yeah, I should probably get that checked out.” The problem with US healthcare though is nothing is easy and you can’t just get whatever tests you want done. We should all be able to get our vitamin/mineral levels tested on the regs! That shit is important.
In other news: thank you all for reading my piece on 90s figure skaters. I had so much fun working on it. I’m glad you all enjoyed it so much! I’m currently working on a piece about MLMs/cults and white women, so stay tuned for that!
Enjoy this week’s Leftovers,
xL<3
Reading List 🔖
Women, Work & Covid-19 - Olivia Johnson
This is really great and interesting! Olivia Johnson crafts socially thoughtful work through design and data. Johnson created cross stitched artworks that depict data about women in the workplace during Covid-19.
*Twitter and Tone Collapse in a Time of War - Delia Cai
It’s come to a point where witnessing these international events has codified a kind of basic etiquette amongst Twitter regulars: In the earliest or most crucial hours of the Event, all regular programming—from brands, outlets, influencers large and small—pauses… But what always happens next, as the shape of the Event crystallizes, is when it gets weird—and revealing of what a truly flattened marketplace of ideas looks like. *I typically don’t link to things that are paywalled, but I really enjoyed this piece AND you get one free article view so you should be able to access this!
Rome’s New Cooking Museum Invites Visitors to Feast With Their Eyes - Sarah Rose Sharp
The Museo della Cucina, opening in May, will be dedicated to exploring one of Italy’s great passions. The institution stands on the spot of Rome’s first legendary meal: Palatine Hill, where Romulus and Remus were breastfed by the she-wolf Lupa more than 2,700 years ago, according to Roman mythology, and subsequently returned to found the city.
Only Conservatives Whine About Cancel Culture - Andrea Grimes
Perhaps people with offensive, bigoted, and outdated ideas ought to be afraid to give those views their full-throated support in any and every venue. Perhaps students who would demean and mock their classmates with half-baked wankery should learn to survive feeling “uneasy.” Perhaps there should be social consequences for offending people. It seems a small price to pay for that rigorous intellectual debate, no? Or are these deeply held principles around intellectual diversity and rigor not so deeply held after all?
Therapy With a Human Face - Hannah Zeavin
The feminization of therapy is crucial to understanding how it became both devalued and out of reach.
When Pop Music Lets Women of Color Express Their Rage - Natasha Ramoutar
This gender socialization starts from birth and continues on as we grow, often in subtle ways. When I was in kindergarten, the girls were encouraged to play with the house sets. When I was a teenager, my relatives would joke that I would not be able to find a husband because I didn’t know how to cook. For racialized women, rage can be policed even more repressively, as with the “Angry Black Woman” or “docile Asian” stereotypes.
Powerful Portraits of Women Bodybuilders - Emily Dinsdale
Stylist Kate Kidney Bishop and photographer Celia Croft bonded over their mutual fascination with the world of women’s bodybuilding. As outsiders, the pair were intrigued by the sports’ more-is-more aesthetic and the appeal of what Croft describes as “glamour mixed in with the extremity of a really challenging sport.” Bishop was also interested in “the combination of art and athleticism and how this interacts with identity and gender.”
Librarianship 🌻
Ukrainian Libraries, Serving as Bomb Shelters, Continue to Prove that Libraries Are Our Best Hope - Eliza Smith
Books of Note 📚
Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place - Neema Avashia (nonfiction)
Glory - Noviolet Bulawayo (fiction)
A Thousand Steps Into Night - Traci Chee (young adult)
Knight Owl - Christopher Denise (children’s book)
How to Identify Yourself with a Wound - Kb (poetry)
Having and Being Had - Eula Biss (self-help)
[If you order any of the books above or any listed on my Bookshop site, a percentage goes to local bookstores and I get a small commission. Thank you for not ordering from Amazon!]
Be Witchy 🔮
Interest in Spirituality, Witchcraft On the Rise Amid COVID-19, TikTok Boom
- Kiara Alfonseca
WitchTok Creators Share 6 Essentials to Help You Unlock Your Home’s Spiritual Potential - Taryn Williford
Playlist 🎵
“Shouldn’t I Be” - Scout LaRue Willis
”Resentment” - Madi Diaz
”I’m Tired” - Labrinth & Zendaya
”Lara” - Sassy 009
“My Love” - Florence + The Machine
Mood Board 💓
Self-Care + Good Things ☕
My nephew turns 1 today! 50000 IUs of vitamin D coursing through me as I write this. My exercise practice. Dinner with K&A. Potential happenings. Substack pairing me with a super rad design collective to revamp my stuff here. Reading about Mary Magdalene. Listening to music from my youth: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Enon, and CocoRosie.
