This week Drake, I mean, champagne papi reposted someone else’s content without giving them credit. Stars, they’re just like us! Am I going in hard on Drake? Yes. But is it keeping me from making a bunch of womblands jokes? Also yes. Hi, friends! Welcome back to me, Kim, Joy’s stupidest friend. This week I’m sharing lots of Light Links™? because life feels heavy right now and I want to give you a little brightness. See you in the comments!
• Okay, let’s get to this Drake business. I love funny women and this Vogue piece from Emma Specter on Drake’s reading list is a must read. Apparently Drake posted an IG story of his TBR stack – with a shoe on top? A day after this story was published it came out that Drake reposted (aka stole) this pic from a bookstagrammer named Hardback Hypebeast. Drake! L-O-L. Straight to jail. (Vogue, Instagram)
• I think one of the reasons I love pop culture is because the Venn diagram of folks who write about pop culture and who have a good sense of humor is a circle. One of the best in the game is R. Eric Thomas. In his newsletter Previously On…, he wrote a love letter to THE Sheryl Lee Ralph from my new favorite tv show, Abbott Elementary. Read it and literally weep (from laughing). (Twitter, Previously On)
• Listen, not to brag, but my friend got to interview Dolly Parton. Okay, I’m bragging a little. Friend of the pod, Mary Laura Philpott spoke to Parton and James Patterson about their new book, Run, Rose, Run. Wondering how these two came to write a book together? Well, do I have the exclusive interview for you? (Parnassus Books, Parade)
• Lydia Okello is one of my favorite follows on Instagram and they just wrote a piece for Vogue!! Okello is a fat nonbinary fashion person and in this piece, they write about growing up hating their body, and how after a pic of themself in a bikini went viral, they felt liberated after a lifetime of hiding. (Instagram, Vogue)
• This is a few weeks old, but I can’t stop thinking about it. For Culture Study, Anne Helen Petersen wrote about what keeps people on Facebook. As someone who does social media professionally, I think about this ALL THE TIME. (Substack)
• Like so many of us, Megan Seling felt helpless watching the news coming out of Ukraine. But being a person who’s made eating snacks her job, she found a Ukrainian-owned market and (her words) “bought a shitload of candy.” Read about Johnny Krockers, Mont Blancs, and something called Minky Binky, and while you’re there, smash that subscribe button. (Snack and Destroy)
• I recently reread this piece from Melissa Febos from 2017 on boundaries, email response time, and generally saying “no” more. A little sad that this advice from 2017 is still so needed in 2022. (Catapult)
• Are we….still watching Law & Order? While we collectively decide, this NYT piece on the 60-year career of Sam Waterson is well worth your time. He’s 81! I had no idea. (The New York Times)
• Speaking of Law & Order, this TikTok about Jerry Orbach in Dirty Dancing made my week. Of the 22.4K views, easily half of them are mine. Enjoy! (TikTok)
• Nichole Perkins wrote one of my favorite memoirs, Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be. I’m going to be in conversation with Nichole on Zoom on March 22 for The Porch’s Birthing the Book series. Registration is free, so please use your dollars to buy Nichole’s book from your favorite independent bookstore. (The Porch, Bookshop.org)
See you next month!
Kim
samantha campanini
Thank you for these links!
Lyndsee
“Joy’s stupidest friend” hahahaha
I enjoyed this immensely!
maze
Honestly started cackling at the womblands reference and didn’t stop.
Bill
Okay, I laughed our loud (yes, I’m over 50 and spell that out) at your description as Joy’s “stupidest friend”. Clearly you are anything but, but thank you for the laugh. And for sharing all of this.
Kim Baldwin
Bill! Now I’m laughing – hahaha. Thank you for this comment, and thanks for reading.
Kendall
Kim! Thanks so much, this is my favorite of your Sunday posts yet. That Drake story is totally bonkers, but through it I discovered Nightbitch, which I am about to order from for my favorite local bookstore, along with Sometimes I Trip On How Happy We Could Be. (Shoutout to Queen Anne Books in Seattle). Thanks for the excellent start to my Sunday.
Kim Baldwin
Kendall! Wow, thank YOU. I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t read Nightbitch yet. It’s been on my TBR for awhile and I need to read it. And I’m so glad you ordered Nichole Perkins’ book! I loooooved it and hope you do, too. Thanks for reading. xoxo, Kim
Rachel
Just ordered the Dolly Parton book, and 2 others, from a local bookstore. Can’t wait to read them!
Kim Baldwin
Hi Rachel! Awe, that makes my former bookseller heart so happy. I need to run out and pick it up, too.
Tina Fay
Thank you for the link to the Sheryl Lee Ralph essay! And I agree — IMMEDIATELY! She was immediately beyond great in a cast that was immediately great. Also, agree on the larger issue of pop culture writing.
Kim Baldwin
Hi Tina! Isn’t essay the greatest? I’m glad you liked it. I’m a big fan of R. Eric’s. If you’re a reader, he has a book called Here For It that is sooooo funny.
Alexis
I came for the recipes. I came for a slice (pardon the foodie pun) of New Orleans. I left due to the pop culture. I don’t know who “Drake” is. Moreover, I am uninterested in who or what “Drake” may (or pretends to) be. And, if possible, even less interested in the twitterverse or whatever IG pretends to be, as I understand it stands accused of being the mental health ruination of young persons of any version of self-identification, and especially the infamous identity/personal information thieving Fb. But before I say bye to the Sunday chapters – though not the wonderful cooking lessons – posing this question: given the many and well-documented crimes of social media, why does anyone continue to participate?
Karen B
I agree with Memee – all about uplifting yourself not calling yourself names.
Memee
Shame on you!!! Calling yourself “stupidist.”. Joy, it might be time to find another villain blogger.
Sick of Memee
Get a life and leave people alone.
Joy the Baker - Founder
Easy Memee. Kim is just being lighthearted. She knows I have much more stupid friends. (I’m being lighthearted too.)
Drake’s gf
It’s been a while since I encountered such a group of scolds in the comments. Listen, Memee and Alexis and anyone else. This is a blog. About baking. And occasionally other things. Not the last bastion of human decency that you must defend at 7-9 a.m. on an ungodly Sunday morning — after springing ahead, no less! Chill.
MB Manion Morell
Loved this round-up – thank you! So many great articles, and personally, I’m going on a quest to add Minky Binky’s to the family Easter Baskets this year.
Kim Baldwin
MB! A woman after my own candy-loving heart. Thank you for reading and for taking the time to leave this nice note. Good luck on your quest for Minky Binky’s.