5SR - January 29, 2024

Larell is a marketing copywriter and women’s health reporter. She's obsessed with second-hand fashion, homesteads on her tiny urban property, and tutors ESL students after school. At the core of her adventures is a spiritual practice of Reiki and Medical Qigong, both of which she calls on when making multimedia art. In the background of this eclectic life, you can hear her little rainbow parakeet chirping her on.

Justin Timberlake Unveils New Song (Billboard)

You can take the girlie out of the 90s, but you can not, no matter how hard you try, take the 90s out of the girlie. It’s fundamental to our way of life, like the yellow basket of 30+ CDs in my passenger seat that I proudly heave into the back when I offer to drive. Only 90s girls truly understand how significant it is to have a mixed tape from our middle school friend or Gwen Stefanie’s trajectory from No Doubt to her solo debut with Love. Angel. Music. Baby.

And 90s girlie or not, no one, I mean, no one I associate with, can deny the surge of pop nostalgia that hits when Sexy Back fills the speakers. It’s classic. Perfect to this day. That’s why Justin Timberlake has a permanent spot in my car’s 6-track CD player. And why I will stan his music as long as I can sassily roll my shoulders. (I even stuck with him after buying and listening to Man Of The Woods, so you know we run deep.)

Releasing his new solo Selfish and forthcoming album Everything I Thought It Was at 42 reminds me that artists are forever. Art is forever. The god damn 90s are forever. The fact that he’s not done swooning us? Just wow. I’m not about stalking him on social media, though. I respect him too much for that. When he’s ready to remind us just how special we all are with his sweet falsetto, I’m here to press play on that CD and take a long drive.

“Rizz” is Oxford’s 2023 Word Of The Year (Smithsonian Magazine)

I recently started dating someone who is undoubtedly very cool. People just gravitate towards him. He’s compassionate, intelligent, and a little mysterious. Could his coolness also be a product of his Queen's upbringing, the way he thinks before he speaks, or the fact that he’s over 6’? I think yes.

So when he first said “rizz,” in a sentence like “you trying to rizz me up?” I quickly used my Creative Writing background to scrape together enough context clues to understand the broad strokes of the word. I’m cool, too! Truthfully, it sounded like old slang from the 20s, like “beef” or “doll.”

Anyway, if you’re as blissfully out of the modern slang loop as I am, and there’s no very cool person to gently explain 2023 to you, this quick rundown of the term “rizz” might help. And yes, I sent him this article as some morning validation.

Billions of cicadas will buzz this spring as two broods emerge at the same time (NPR)

I don’t, like, know what to do with this information? But I’m happy to know it, so maybe you’ll appreciate the heads up too. Cicadas are those ridiculous bugs you can’t see but can most certainly hear in the spring/summertime, especially if you live by a tree line.

They’re so loud that they sometimes fade into the background of summer, and you don’t realize the volume you’ve been regulated to until your ears start ringing.

This spring, two broods of cicadas will emerge simultaneously after living 13 or 17 years underground, respectively.

Apparently, the last time both emerged was when Thomas Jefferson was president. If it sounds like a lot, that’s because it is a lot. Check out this article to see if your area will be home to billions of cicadas this Spring. And then consider moving.

Issa Rae on Exposing Your Personal Life To Make A Name For Yourself (thread via X)

I recently started re-watching the series Insecure. It’s so good. So funny. So cringe. So L.A. If you haven’t dug into the confusing early 30s of Issa’s character as she navigates her career, relationship, and friendships, I highly recommend it.

Re-watching Insecure reminded me of something the real Issa Rae mentioned in an interview a while back. It stuck with me as a fellow writer of non-fiction/comedy. “I wish I hadn’t written that book,” she basically tells the interviewer, referring to Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.

The book was later used as material for Insecure, but at the cost of her privacy and perhaps dignity, in hindsight. I’m no stranger to the idea of selling our most embarrassing stories to the publishing world for reads. For a name. It’s kind of how I got my start in professional writing, right around the “I tried it” boom of digital reporting. Yikes.

All this to say, if you’re a writer and you naturally air on the honest side, it’s okay to keep some stuff to yourself. Actually, please do. Your stories are sacred. Take it from Issa: it’s okay to tell the wild pressures of creative success to f-off. Respectfully, of course.

The Wondrous Birds of the Himalayas and the Forgotten Victorian Woman Whose Illustrations Rewilded the Western Imagination (Publication)

This holds no real-world or topical significance other than being an absolutely welcome and gorgeous break from your day.

Elizabeth Gould was a creative in the 1800s who knew there was more to life than working with kids who “cannot communicate a single thought or feeling.” LOL, girl. She meets and marries this taxidermy dude who has a dream all his own to work in ornithology and publish a book.

Things really clicked into place when he was granted access to a never-before-seen collection of birds from the Himalayas. (This was the 1800s, remember). What ensued was 80 lavish single-brush drawings dawned by our dear Elizabeth. The couple self-published on a successful subscription basis. So began their dual career in zoology and historical contribution to Western ornithology. Do yourself a favor and take a moment to scroll shamelessly.

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