This Week
So I know this is an inauspicious time, but I am officially back on the full-time job search. If you have or know of opportunities, please reach out! My email address is hello@jenmyers.net. I posted some details over on Twitter.
If you reached out a few months ago and are still interested in talking to me, please let me know. I tried to get back to everyone but there were so many (thank you!) that it’s entirely possible I missed folks in the deluge.
On the epistolary front: I have sent out the first batch of postcards. Hopefully those who requested them will start seeing them arrive shortly.
The April essay for paid subscribers will also arrive shortly. You have a couple days still if you would like to sign up to receive it.
Links
How pandemics affect men and women differently and why this one is a disaster for feminism.
The ethics of delivery. I found this to be a clear, direct-from-the-source portion of advice.
Last weekend’s domestic box office numbers came from a single drive-in theater in Florida.
True fact: the real MVP of Chicago food is not the pizza, but the Italian beef.
For your video meeting needs: backgrounds from Star Wars and backgrounds from Studio Ghibli (hat tip on the last to Ben).
For your binge-watching pleasure: quaint English murder mystery television shows with a million seasons.
“You’ve got these stories you’re not telling anybody. Each one of those stories is like this little ball of yarn. If you don’t express them, they end up getting tangled together inside. Then it’s really hard to sort through them.” Fiona Apple.
Reading/Watching/Listening
Everyone has their particular sort of comfort entertainment and mine is contemporary mystery television set in the UK. Your Broadchurches, your Shetlands, that kind of thing. I don’t know how to explain why. Anyway, I recently subscribed to the Acorn channel and now I’m swimming in dour, desaturated UK detection. This week: The Loch and Deadwater Fell. Your mileage may vary. But I know my compatriots with similiar inexplicable taste are out there.
The Criterion Channel has relaunched and expanded their Columbia Noir collection, so I’ve been working through the new-to-me films there. A recent gem: The Harder They Fall, Humphrey Bogart’s last film performance and a worthy entry of my favorite noir subgenre, Boxing Noir.
John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, a weird, creepy meta-themed film I like very much, is streaming on Shudder only until the end of April, so you might want to catch it before it goes. Also features Instagram ukelele-playing, wine-drinking and gnome-discoursing sensation Sam Neill.
I’ve been taking early morning neighborhood walks and listening to Fiona Apple. Recommended for what ails you.
One day, we will once again be Rihanna vibing with bejewelled flask in hand. Or as close as we mere mortals can get to that. Keep believing.
Love,
Jen
Connections
Substack archive: https://jenmyers.substack.com/archive
TinyLetter archive: http://tinyletter.com/jenmyers/archive
Essay archive: http://modernadventuress.com/
Website: http://jenmyers.net
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jenmyers
Email: hello@jenmyers.net
Post: P.O. Box 13114 Chicago, IL 60613
This week’s quote is one I believe I have used before but circumstances justify its repetition. It is from Eleanor Roosevelt’s You Learn by Living:
“Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”