MALONE-MAIL No. 13: Fruitopia
Greetings from the land of sunshine, puppies and endless produce! At the end of last month, I took a big leap, a leap I definitely already told you about but am going to tell you about again because I like the sound of my own clackety-clacking keyboard: I moved back to my home country of "Los Angeles," a magical land where they sell wine at grocery stores (I know, right? Insanity).
That's why this MalonE-Mail is a little late, NOT THAT THIS IS AN EXCUSE OR ANYTHING but I've been settling in over the past few weeks, trying to figure out how to buy a car (because how messed up & weird is that process) and adjust to working on a Pacific timezone (though I can't shake Eastern totally—I actually sort of like starting to work at 7am, masochist that I am). Now I'm back, though! And as you can imagine, I have many things to share with you.
What I've been writing...
FOR WIRED:
I wrote another entry in my dystopia column, this month about the updates to Lois Lowry's The Giver made in the film adaptation, which opened this weekend.
Not sure whether this is a "column" per se, but I also wrote an op-ed (today!) in response to another WIRED op-ed that tried to claim that dystopian fiction "makes people fear technology." Obviously that couldn't be further from the truth.
I wrote a screed about JK Rowling's Harry Potter "short stories" that need to stop. People were VERY happy or VERY upset about my opinion.
I wrote about why Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany don't need no stinkin' Emmys.
I wrote an ill-advisedly detailed guide to binge-watching LOST.
I wrote about the depressing reason why people (including me) were disappointed by the movie Lucy.
FOR ELSEWHERE:
As my last professional act as a true New York City resident, I reviewed the Neutral Milk Hotel show at Prospect Park for the Village Voice.
For Wondering Sound, I profiled Jenny Lewis on the occasion of her new record, Voyager.
For Vulture, I did a Q&A also with Jenny Lewis about non-album-related stuff!
For the L.A. Times (!), I wrote a preview of the Unicorns' reunion on the eve of their first gig at the LA Forum.
Also, I've been working on a few things that, I think, are rolling out in the next month, so stay tuned for those. And tell your friends, in the meantime, because who doesn't like a sassy, totally irregular newsletter from a cartoon-faced journalist?
What I've been reading...
Like most of us, my diet has recently been dominated by Michael Brown and the Ferguson protests. My favorites (though can you really have "favorites" in a situation like this) have been Rembert Browne's on-the-ground account, Greg Howard's powerful essay "America is Not for Black People" over at Deadspin, and Mia McKenzie's incredibly useful post that dismantles the rhetoric that almost always surrounds the killing of black people by law enforcement, especially in the press.
But I've been reading a lot of other great stuff over the past month that I recommend here, too, like...
This great piece by Farhad Manjoo at the NYT about Slender Man and digital-era folk tales.
This piece by Willa Paskin on one of my favorite shows right now, Masters of Sex, and the "psychology of intimacy."
These two horrible recent accounts of sexual assault and the public's response to it.
Benajmin Wallace's New York magazine profile of Kara Swisher, Silicon Valley's most feared/beloved tech reporter, made me feel woefully inadequate at my job, so you know it's good.
And the science behind the screams.
What I've been listening to...
Sia's new album 1000 Forms of Fear has been in constant rotation — for all your sadgirl needs! The past month has been BANGIN' (pun ~intended~) for pop, too: this amazing collaboration and this amazing collaboration and obviously this, for starters. Those are pretty much on repeat in my car (read: my dad's minivan, since as I mentioned, I'm in the process of getting one). The Muffs' new album Whoop Dee Doo came out at the end of last month and that one is pretty awesome too.
P.S. (Parting Shot):
LOOK AT THESE NEW OFFICE ASSISTANTS/FUZZY CHEERLEADERS/LITTLE DUM-DUMS I GET TO HANG OUT WITH EVERY DAY NOW. During the work day, Pumba, left, nudges me every hour or so in the leg to remind me to get up and walk around a little, and Zoë, right, will come up to me when I'm on the couch and put her paw on my typing hand to make sure I take a break to pet her. FEEL THE ENVY.