Emchap's Shit from the Internet 08/28/19 🍠
I am currently in New York for vacation, which means I've been spending the day (after beginning it in Newark, which I don't entirely recommend) indulging in my favorite NYC activities of sweating, eating large breakfast, and visiting my old office to scam fancy seltzer/see people. (Originally, this was planned as a trip to see my sister before a wedding of some beloved friends upstate, but she has gone and abandoned me for greener touring employment fields, so I am instead crashing in a friend's apartment and eating peanut butter m&ms pantsless.)
Though I am #gross atm due to my general disposition/humidity, it's cooler here than it is at home, and sweating for reasons other than the unforgiving sun is honestly a fun new experience for the month. Plus, damp though I am, my trip back to the old office landed me a chance to nab a ticket to tonight's performance of Fucklahoma/Oklahoma that fucks/Oklaheauxma, and I am very excited in a way no deodorant failure can dampen.
New York is weird to me because it is home to some of my favorite people in the whole world, and to a workplace that was incredibly formative for me and is the closest thing I had to a third space for a long time, but I was so miserable about 90% of the time I lived here. I don't know if it would have been different if I'd gotten on Wellbutrin sooner, but I suspect I was never going to be a good fit for the Northeast. And having lived here (however briefly) means that visiting as a tourist is never quite going to be what it would be if I hadn't. (Queue "For Good".) And of course I was here for such a short time, and reflecting on it runs the risk of turning into the girl from your study abroad class who reminisces about Londontown for the rest of her life.
I'm excited to see friends at the wedding this weekend, and to generally bop around and do the sort of touristy stuff I was too tired and broke to do when I lived here. Here's hoping I don't sweat to death on the J train platform.
Shit to read
God I love rich people drama.
Fuck off, Popeye's. (They are the best-tasting fast food, tho.)
I am so tired, let me have the fancy booze seltzer.
This dude and I have different opinions about the cops but the same opinion about nazi group infiltration.
This, about a woman who joined ISIS possibly under duress, is SUPER COMPELLING.
Everything about how Backdoor was shut down is infuriating.
I loved this on the weird lines that YIMBY/NIMBY development platforms can cross.
Whelp this gutted me.
CW rape but this piece on alternative justice frameworks is so good.
Shit to eat
After a redeye to Newark, clamber into your friend's incredibly nice apartment.
Smile at the doorman in a way that says "no I'm not an AirBnB person, we went to college together".
Looking at Google Maps, realize you are by the outpost of a famous breakfast restaurant where you once had a truly uncomfortable breakfast with some folks you hadn't realized were sleeping together and a person who was later revealed as a creep.
The pancakes were good though.
Toddle down to the restaurant, sit at the bar, and order some ridiculous pancakes, alone.
Enjoy your book and your breakfast dessert. Text photos to new coworkers and old friends. Try to avoid getting syrup on yourself.
Mostly succeed.
Like, 80%?
Polish off the breakfast, pay in cash, and be glad you no longer live in New York.
Shit to watch
This is a tremendous piece from a woman who's worked really hard, and a profound indictment of our society.
Shit to buy
These mom jeans, but like a size smaller than you think, because I sized up and could have put a cat inside of them.
The fanciest pancakes you can find.