Thursday Thoughts - cause I've been walking down your street with a love that I can't hide

1. The Bangles are underrated. Like the title lyrics from Walking Down Your Street. Bebopping around to In Your Room while cleaning the house? Listening to Hazy Shade of Winter with a light grayish yellowish early January sky out the window? These are the times. These are the late 80s jams. 

2.  I am at an all time very bad cooking person level. I just do not fucking feel like it. Dinners this week have mostly been cucumbers and cheese and crackers or ordered out. I just went to the store to replenish my salad fixings and I am eating them, damnit.

3. Nail color picked out by my niece this week: OPI Go with the Lava Flow and on the pointers Suzi's Slinging Mezcal

4. New favorite after work activity: straight to the beach. My Mom and Rich and Kate and the kids are down until tomorrow night. My mom's birthday is tomorrow and I'm off. 

5. I talked a little about racial inequality in the publishing world in how much authors are paid in advance black vs. white and how that impacts which books get promoted, when, and how hard in the last Show Us Your Books. As always you can google for more information about this stuff. The best way to show support for any up and coming author or book you are excited about is pre-ordering books. That is doubly true for black authors. It tells publishers there is interest and it is worth it for them to invest in the promotion of these books. Here's a list by Bookriot of 45 upcoming books by black authors you can pre-order right now. If you are a reader and have the money, please consider doing that, and pre-ordering from an indie book store (Black-owned if possible). I used to buy books constantly, then stopped for years, and now I'm on the rise again. I have pre-ordered When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole and And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall (also got from Netgalley as an ARC). I will order Luster by Raven Leilani (also got from Netgalley as an ARC) and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi before their pub dates. Since publishers do not promote books by Black authors as vociferously as white authors, you might not be reading as many of them. It will take a while to right that ship. In the meantime Buzzfeed has gathered 24 Black Bookstagrammers you should have on your radar, so start by following them if you don't already. In other exciting book news, my library in Ocean City is now doing curbside pickup. YESSSSSSS!

6. In other putting money where our mouths are moments, I am using the not insignificant amount of money I spent on OPC per week pre-Corona to donate to causes that align with me. This week is Matthew Shepard Foundation and Philadelphia Black Giving Circle. What causes are speaking to you recently? 

7. People are losing their fucking shit over Aunt Jemima being re-branded. Why is it hard for people to let go of things that were intentionally racist at their conception, even if it is not personally racist to them in 2020? Why is it so important to hold onto something steeped in racism so you can call your syrup what you've always called it? Similar thing with the statue humping. Stop. You are defending stone likenesses of people who fought for the Confederacy for five years and fucking lost. It is embarrassing at this point for people to be defending statues of oppressors instead of being like hmm, maybe we should reexamine our touchstones in this country. Check out this instagram thread and caption. 

Also, this thread on helpful terms for your google search bar and most importantly the caption. Learn things. 

8. Other mishmash I'm googling: construction and performance bonds (learn more), foot peel, Surfer dude, teak mat, safety first which led me to Canada https://calhounsuperstructure.com/the-calhoun-difference/safety-first/, LUSH conditioner, the true history of the Confederate flag, and water tank. 

9. Reminder:

10. E-cards...seriously though it's been pants and long sleeves weather at the shore a lot

Cheers to SCOTUS this week handing down decisions in favor of employment protections for LGBTQ+ folx and saving DACA. Huge, huge wins this week for letting people be who they are and not punishing them for that or where they come from.

Thursday Thoughts from you?

The words following the hyphen are the song I am listening to when I start the Thursday Thoughts post. This week is Walking Down Your Street by The Bangles (link in #1)