THIS WEEK
We very much feel the above Hannah Gadsby expression right now; let’s watch her new special, Douglas. Get help or give help through the Pandemic of Love. Revisit Ms. Magazine’s most iconic covers. Dancing by city. Profiles of Betsey Johnson and Catherine O’Hara and Jacinda Ardern. 50 fun things to do when you’re bored. How to make art from junk mail. Roxane Gay is now on Cameo and Cardi B’s tattoo is complete. Camp is canceled, how we cope. Pandemic DIY haircuts and women who have invented hair products. How our bodies may change after being inside for months. Zen and the act of washing dishes. Missing my instincts in the time of coronavirus. NPR revisits the Indigo Girls. Woman now only reading articles about how it’s okay to not be productive.
(Photo: WestBeth Entertainment)
Join us June 2 for TueNight Live!
One week from tonight: Our first virtual TueNight Live, and it’s a Gen-X Variety show! Our theme for this edition is High Anxiety, as voted on by TueNighters. It’s going to be a night of interactive fun with some seriously amazing performers and storytellers including:
Bassey Ikpi — Author of I'm Telling the Truth But I'm Lying; poet, writer, and mental health advocate.
Kat Kinsman — Author, Hi Anxiety; Senior Editor Food and Wine.
Robin Gelfenbien — PBS, Yum's The Word storytelling.
And more!
Tickets are $10 and a portion of the proceeds will go to Crisis Text Line, free, 24/7 support for those in crisis. Text 741741 from anywhere in the US to text with a trained Crisis Counselor.
Obsessed: Volunteering at the Food Bank
By Margaret Crandall
If you have the time and the physical ability, consider volunteering at your local food bank. I don’t know how it works in other cities, but the San Francisco one is a well-oiled machine, like if Richard Scarry had written “Busy Busy Food Bank.” Imagine a warehouse the size of a football field where large trucks are unloading pallet after pallet of canned goods and fresh produce. The busy busy Food Bank staff are zooming around on forklifts, stacking up piles of products for the busy busy Volunteers, who are filling empty boxes with 2 bottles of tomato juice, 4 cans of soup, 4 cans of vegetables, 2 cans of fruit, 3 cans of tuna, 2 bags of beans, 2 bags of rice, and a bag of powdered milk – as fast as they possibly can, because there is an unspoken rule that you must HAUL ASS during your shift, that people are counting on you for this food and you’ve only got a couple hours to fill as many boxes as you possibly can. Each box you fill gets fed into this wild machine that tapes the top and the bottom at the same time. Then it gets stamped, deposited onto a pallet, and just when you think you’re running out of stacking space, you hear the “beep beep” of the approaching forklift, which scoops the pile up and zooms it away. All of this is happening while the busy busy classic rock bands are blaring over the PA and you’re fantasizing about taking one of those pieces of heavy equipment for a joy ride.
Eventually the busy busy Volunteer Manager tells you to stop working. He thanks you for your work and tells you exactly how many boxes you filled (more than 400), how much they weighed (13,000 pounds total), and where they’re going (home delivery to senior citizens). As you stagger out of there, dirty and sweaty, you realize that for a full two hours you thought of nothing else but doing a good job for people who need it. Sometimes it feels really good to be busy.
If you’re interested in volunteering at your local food bank, start here.
TUENIGHT 10: Marie Denee
(Photo: Howell Designs)
Age: 38
Bio: Marie Denee is the Editor in Chic at The Curvy Fashionista. She is an established and respected voice in the plus size fashion arena, making it her mission to continuously show women that they can be Curvy, Confident, and Chic.
Beyond the Bio: I am at a curious place in life. Welcoming 40, realizing my dreams- actually understanding that the only limitations that I have are the ones that I impose on myself. For the past few years, I have been reconciling past baggage, realizing my own missteps, and taking those lessons to help me walk my most confident steps.
What makes you a grown-ass lady? I think I am just coming into this. Letting go of caring what others think, in regards to making my own decisions and moves. Honestly, I am stepping into who I am with confidence. THIS is what I would define a grown-ass lady to be. I also feel more sexy, sassy, and confident about life.
Here’s her TueNight 10:
1. On the nightstand: My Black Tourmaline stone.
2. Can't stop/won't stop: Watching dance choreography on YouTube.
3. Jam of the minute: Savage, the Remix with Beyoncé.
4. Thing I miss: My family. They are all on the west coast and I am in Georgia.
5. ’80s crush: Atrayou from The NeverEnding Story.
6. Current crush: Yahya, the actor.
7. Latest fave find: My E.L.F. face wash.
8. Last thing you lost: My Firestick remote.
9. Best thing that happened recently: Having a few personal breakthroughs with where I want to take my business.
10. Looking forward to: A real vacation... on a beach somewhere.
STORY: Roller Boogie: My Pandemic Security Blanket
(Photo: Susan A. Miller for Associated Press)
By Michelle Arnold
“As I self-isolate in my apartment in the midst of a world filled with rampant disease, income inequality, corporate greed, racism, classism, and other divisiveness, I often return to lose myself in Roller Boogie – in a world where the sun is always shining, the coolest kid on the beach is from the wrong side of the tracks, everyone skates together in joy and love, the Bad Men In Suits are actually thwarted, and a cassette tape saves everything.”
Rolling into the rest of the week like…