Friday Fourteen Issue 109
This week: Five cooks from five Asian cultures share stories about what Lunar New Year means to them, how ‘link in bio’ became the new personal website, what not to say to someone who is grieving, how Reddit predicted the downfall of it-girl beauty brand Glossier, a history timeline game for all you history buffs that can’t get into Wordle, the unexpected joy of making friends as an adult, and more
Five cooks from five Asian cultures share stories about what Lunar New Year means to them and what recipe best represents their celebration. (and happy new year to all of our readers who are celebrating the Lunar New Year!)
How ‘link in bio’ became the new personal website
A beautiful essay on losing your accent (and losing yourself)
The kids who lived through the start of the school shooting era in the United States are all grown up. These are their stories
Everyone has left the chat and we’re not ready for it
What not to say to someone who is grieving (“In an effort to help, people try to shrink the loss, to minimise the very real experience of grief. At least they are no longer in pain. At least you got to say goodbye. At least they didn’t battle a long illness. At least, at least, at least, at least. The “at leasts” pile up and contradict each other.”)
In tech news, TikTok is introducing a standalone page for ads called ‘Instant Page’, Substack is pivoting to video, Apple is launching a new version of iOS that allows you to use Face ID with a mask, and Spotify has chosen to keep Joe Rogan instead of Neil Young
Two restaurateurs open up about the toll trolling took on their business
The unexpected joy of making friends as an adult
NYT writer Lindsay Crouse on ditching her smart watch and letting go of her addiction to data (“At first, I loved that smart watch, which I used to get faster at racing marathons. Suddenly, I had metrics on things I didn’t even realise my body did: lactate thresholds, VO₂ max, heart rate variability. Soon I couldn’t stop thinking about the numbers on the watch. I was addicted.”)
Everyone’s talking about how it-girl beauty brand Glossier laid off 1/3 of its corporate workforce this week. Here’s a deep dive into their downfall, as predicted by Redditors (of course)
Here’s a little history timeline game for all you history buffs that can’t get into Wordle (Vanessa: I was very, very bad at this)
Speaking of, here’s why the New York Times’ purchase of Wordle is actually a good thing — plus seven free online word games for when the NYT inevitably makes us all pay to play 😭
This Twitter thread on the best internet gems you’ve (probably) never heard of is an absolute GOLDMINE
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Lizzie —>
Listening: If you were a die-hard Grease 2 fan as a kid (like me), this episode of Sentimental Garbage will have you reminiscing. I wanted to be Michelle Pfeiffer so bad
Eating: Every Night Of The Week’s super simple but insanely tasty ravioli salad. It has three types of cheese in it!
Watching: MAFS 🙈
Vanessa —>Cooking: For all those playing along at home, I made the egg and tomato dish I mentioned a few weeks back and it was a success!! The secret is definitely the cornstarch; it made the tomatoes so jammy. Next I’m trying this spanakopita, which involves no pre-cooking of any ingredients and is made right on the stovetop. Deb over at Smitten Kitchen has helpfully interpreted it into a recipe
Watching: The Sinner season 4 as soon as this goddam week is over
Reading: These Precious Days by Anne Patchett
