minute thoughts 2.13.20

Thoughts while watching this gif of Bong Joon-ho for the millionth time

1. Still wildly excited and inexplicably proud of Parasite’s Oscar wins this past weekend! I find it hilarious that everyone in Hollywood is fawning over Bong Joon-ho and he’s clearly just amused by this quaint little American institution—this is my favorite take on the whole thing, referencing a quote from this interview in which he essentially dismissed the Oscars as no big deal because, “The Oscars are not an international film festival. They’re very local.” And then he won four of them. Iconic.

2. One takeaway from Architectural Digest’s YouTube channel: money can’t buy taste. It also puts me in a real down-with-the-bourgeoisie mood, but I can’t stop hate-watching tours of $60 million West Village apartments.

3. I love The Washington Post’s “Lily Lines” for its incisive assessments of women’s issues and candid perspectives of women’s lives, and they recently did a project called “The Disposables,” which gave 25 women the chance to share a glimpse of their lives, unedited. Kristen Bell says it best:

I entered into this project for the fun factor, but ultimately it had an unexpected impact. I use social media often and have become accustomed to this newfangled way of capturing our lives—one steeped in perfection and extrinsic validation. This transported me to a time before instant gratification. To a time when we didn’t take 30 pictures in anticipation of picking just one. To a time that is much more present. It made me reflect on the imperative we place on immediacy in today’s culture and the habitual desire to capture our “best” selves. This project reminded me that it’s actually the small, non-filtered moments that make up our “best” self.

I like to think I’m usually pretty good about not letting taking photos distract from living in the moment, and I’m still going to carry my DSLM when I travel. But I also realized that I’m guilty of taking 30 pictures in order to get the perfect shot and searching through thousands of them after my trip. I look back on some of my travel blogs and some of my favorite pictures were actually hastily taken when I wasn’t thinking about framing or composition. And I’ve realized that sometimes when I’m reading travel blogs or watching travel vlogs, I’m not really paying that much attention because they look too perfect, less like a personal journal and more like a high-quality production. It feels very sterilized. So I’ve resolved to take fewer pictures when I travel. I like pictures as mementos, but that’s all they should be, mementos, not a substitute for memories.

4. Two New York-specific data visualizations I really liked recently: the geography of its linguistic diversity and the interactive subway map. Also semi-related: what3words, a geocoding system that divides the world into three-meter square plots and identifies each location with a unique set of three words (for example, UCSB’s Storke Tower is apples.drives.spooned). I can actually understand the practical applications of it—you can find someone’s location much more easily than just giving them a vague spot like “Central Park Great Lawn.” It would be a really interesting scavenger hunt.

5. Something I didn’t mention in my Year in Review was that I cut out alcohol for the most part. I had maybe five drinks in all of 2019. I’ll still have a drink at holiday parties or birthday parties, but I won’t order a drink with dinner or go to happy hours, and I go to events sober. Some of my friends have asked how it is and honestly, I don’t miss it at all. I feel like since I didn’t say “no alcohol, ever” it gave me a bit more freedom, but I also realized that it’s just so easy to drink in New York. I drank way more frequently when I first moved here than I ever did in college, because everyone wants to “catch up” over drinks, you never have to drive home, and you can find a dozen happy hours on any block. But I’ve never really liked it. And using it as a way of socializing just wasn’t reason enough for me. I will say I still don’t really understand non-alcoholic cocktails. I assume the reason people order cocktails are for the taste or for the buzz and non-alcoholic drinks give you...neither? I’d rather have a Diet Coke.

6. It has been weirdly not cold in New York recently, and I’m upset. There were like two days that were really harsh, but other than that, I’ve barely worn any of my winter coats at all. I actually miss the snow. In my opinion, it shouldn’t be 30°F unless it’s going to snow; it’s just a waste.

7. I’m currently reading Zadie Smith’s Swing Time, and I really like it! The only thing is, I’ve noticed it’s difficult for me to actually pick it up and read little by little, because I prefer to read in big chunks. But I think that’s partly due to my worsening attention span—I read books much more slowly now than I used to, which makes me sad because I used to be a voracious reader as a kid and would burn through a couple of them in a week. Anyone else have this problem, and if so, what are your tips for focusing?

8. Since the Oscars, I’ve been thinking more about representation and was reminded of this project, which was really great, but also, do we need to insert ourselves into white stories in order to be culturally relevant? The Oscars (at least this year) says no. And don’t forget the mess that was Barnes & Noble’s “Diverse Editions,” which people accused of “digital blackface.”

9. PSA: THE SECRET RECIPE FOR PANDA EXPRESS ORANGE CHICKEN IS ON YOUTUBE. I discovered this a while ago and I've actually made a couple of times times (the sauce turned out well; the fried part left something to be desired, so I'll keep practicing). But with my new Dutch oven that is apparently perfect for frying and the hot and sour soup, I am one step closer to recreating my go-to childhood after-school meal. All I need is the recipe for the chow mein, and then I am coming for you, Panda Express.

10. I’ve been listening to my ‘90s + ‘00s playlist recently, and wow, the memories. My best friend and I used to hang out at her house after dance lessons until my mom could pick me up, and we’d sit perched on her couch eating cold pasta with garlic salt, watching old boy band live performances on VHS (why? I have no idea). One of our favorites was *NSYNC's “Up Against the Wall,” which featured them in Velcro suits jumping around on trampolines and sticking to massive Velcro walls. Honestly, I lived them and I’m still not sure the ‘90s were a real thing. What a weird time. And I know they were relatively tame compared to, like, the ‘80s (what was even going on then?).