one's gotta go
One's gotta go
Seven years ago, Shonda Rhimes published Year of Yes (Bookshop). From what I remember, someone accused her of saying "no" to everything, so she made a commitment to say "yes" to everything instead, for an entire year. It was, overall, a great experience for her.
I said "yes" to everything for the last two weeks: Multiple tennis dates; a quick trip to NY to see friends and museum exhibits; a 24-hour auntie-niece date; five or six concerts (Little Simz, Depeche Mode, a bunch of tiny shows with multiple punk/ska bands); last-minute meetups for dinner or drinks; taking care of the neighbor's dog; etc. I even rented a bike and rode 15 miles before getting a flat tire.
All of the above was awesome. I regret none of it. But I'm exhausted, my apartment looks like it's been ransacked, there is no food in my fridge, and the dirty laundry has mated and spawned.
I can't blame any of this on a demanding career, needy children, or useless spouse. So I assume Shonda Rhimes is either super-human or has an army of assistants. Or both.
Back when Twitter was fun, probably when Obama was president, there was a silly meme called "one's gotta go." It was always a collection of four images, like popular fast food chains, or singers, or sports teams. And whoever shared the images explained why they were "rejecting" one of the four. Then people would argue in the comments about whether Popeye's was better or worse than KFC. Super important stuff.
Time to start taking that approach to my calendar. One event's gotta go. Or maybe two or five. Because I am not Shonda Rhimes. I can only do so much before my body says stop. Right now it's telling me to do a shot of NyQuil and go to bed.
My proofreader is also under the weather. So to quote the Garbage Day newsletter dude, "all typos in here are on purpose, actually."
Anyone here an Instagram marketing genius?
I spend a lot of time volunteering at this tiny nonprofit called Goods For Good. We sort donations, organize the ones we can use, and then distribute gently used clothing and shoes to migrants, resettled refugees, and other people who need the stuff. It's super gratifying when we get, for example, a request for a men's winter jacket, but it has to be a short jacket because he is in a wheelchair, and I know we have a brand-new short North Face thing in his size on the rack upstairs.
But sometimes we get ridiculous donations. Like ball gowns. If they're not too small, I try them on at HQ (Instagram), people take photos of me, and we all have a good laugh.
We want to do something with these silly photos. A weekly "feature" on the nonprofit's Instagram, where we can remind people about what we actually need, in a lighthearted way, and maybe also recruit more volunteers and donations.
But this only works if it has a name. Example: A San Francisco dog rescue does "tongue-tied Tuesday" with photos of dogs with their tongues sticking out. So far all I can come up with is "Today in Donations," "What are THOSE?" and "Model Duty Monday." If you have any ideas, please send them my way!
Lastly, apparently the people we serve do not like or want leather jackets. We have 50 or 60 of them — some are high-end vintage! — and we're contacting resale shops, like "hey, come make us an offer." So far no luck, and no one has the time to list individual items on Poshmark and go to the post office every other day. Long shot, but if you know any used clothing dealers, hit me up?
Links
If you go to NYC before January 7, go see this Barkley Hendricks exhibit. The paintings are glorious and I wish they had let me take photos. (Frick Museum)
The world solved acid rain. We can also solve climate change. (Scientific American)
If you have a lot of ripped/stained clothing that is too gross to give to Goodwill, but don't like the idea of throwing it in the trash, and are willing to spend $20 to get the textiles recycled, this is for you. (For Days)
Photos from this year's High Heel Races, an annual Halloween drag event in DC. (Washingtonian)
Why Apple's weather app is pretty much useless. (Vox)
An index of aesthetics. (Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute)
Lenny Kravitz's new video is borderline porn. NSFW, obv. (YouTube)
Tramp stamps are making a comeback. (Teen Vogue)
This reminds me of that SF "defenestration" building at 6th and Mission. (Colossal)
Speaking of chairs, how happy are these? (Colossal)
The perfect metaphor for so many things. (Instagram)
Kind of want this human dog bed. (Wired)
Antidepressants or Tolkien? I failed this so bad. (Vercel)
Dick Clark asks Johnny the Snitch to explain ska. (Boing Boing)
Revenge Hero is my new band name. (Twitter)