TIND #5
Set the Mood, Change the Food, and Screen Caps
Set the Mood
There really is an art to matching your surroundings to your mood. Like you have to find the right playlist to get the vibe right, I have to find the right movies or TV shows to get my work done or even go to sleep. I know I’m not alone because I saw it on the internet.
My number one movie for going to sleep is Arrival. First of all, I love that movie, so no slander is allowed. There isn’t too much talking, loud laughing, or screaming for real. It’s beautifully shot, and if you’re paying attention to the story line, you can begin to appreciate the non-linear weaving of the story. It feels right for following along but then drifting off to sleep at any point. It’s so important to get those vibes right.
Do you know who I feel always gets the vibes right? Issa Rae. The music on Insecure is top tier. I probably should be giving the credit to the actual Insecure music supervisor, Kier Lehman. When Issa & her friends are back at Stanford for their reunion and The-Dream’s “I Luv Your Girl” comes on in the car?! Aaaahhh! It took me right back. I really love a great soundtrack, so I’m giving you the one I play every morning when I wake up and it’s a little chilly outside.
I still haven’t been able to hone in on which sounds make these songs feel appropriate for the cooler temps, but I think there’s something about horns for the older songs. It reminds me of football season (cold) and the bands playing. [Cue Reasons by Earth Wind and Fire] For the newer songs, it’s likely something about dreamy, isolated vocals. Even if you’re not into all of that, I hope you find some tunes you like.
When is the food revolution?
What have you been eating? I’m a self-proclaimed foodie, but I’m kind of over it. I’ve been cooking for myself for too many years. I’m ready for food to do something new. Where’s the disruption in that industry? I feel like plant based burger & oat milk were the last new things I saw in the food space. I am not entertained. We don’t want anything else pumpkin spiced and especially not hummus. I’m looking for some game-changing gourmet frozen meals or something like that. I don’t want to stand over the stove and prepare a meal, but I also don’t want a frozen pizza or another can of Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup. I drank a Fairlife protein shake and hoped for the best. I crossed my fingers that it would hold me over until the morning. Yep, foodie Z has left the building. Are you eating something tasty? Even if it doesn’t taste good, is it at least fun to cook?
I watched a video of Mindy Kaling making tuna with beans (yes, that’s an odd combination to me too), and she seemed to be having such a good time. I looked and thought, “I remember when cooking was fun like that for me. What happened?” Maybe we’re all only born with a certain number of meals we’ll enjoy preparing. And if that’s the case, then the pandemic really made me burn through my enjoyable cook ups. So here we are. Uninspired but unable to spend more money on UberEats unless one of you sends me a gift card.
I searched for some cooking inspiration, and somehow ended up at Alison Roman’s newsletter with a chicken soup recipe. This one strays from the traditional celery, onion, and carrot trinity, and stars tomatillos and leeks. I was pleasantly surprised. If you make it, do not skip the herbs at the end!
Multimedia Club
Over the summer BJ the Chicago Kid remade “Fancy” by The-Dream. This put him back on my radar, and he just released an EP called Three. It’s only three tracks, and two of them are on the TIND fall playlist.
I’m trying out a couple of new podcasts this week - The Break Room and Suspect. I already told you about the Let’s Talk Bruh podcast, but they’re on YouTube so I’ll plug them again.
I’m revisiting an audiobook that I started months ago, Untamed by Glennon Doyle.
Over the weekend I read Good Morning, Monster by Catherine Gildiner.
If you read this book, please let me know. I want to talk to you about it! I want to know what you think. It was a recommendation from Myleik Teele. If you’re not following her on Instagram, you should. She doesn’t post to the grid much, but her IG stories keep me checking in.
Continuing my recent interest in all things psychology and behavioral sciences, I finally started The Social Animal by David Brooks. The stories are a liitttllllee boring, but the explanations of the science are good. (Book Review)
If you recall, in the last issue of TIND, I mentioned reading Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational. It was good to me! It led me to his sequel (which was already on my bookshelf), The Upside of Irrationality, but I couldn’t get into that one. Ariely’s IG led me to a book by one of his colleagues, How Not to Die Alone - more behavioral science & irrationaly but this time it’s applied to dating. I started it but I’m not sold yet.
Even though I’ve been trying my best to up the grace and patience, I might not be alone in feeling the stretch. Apparently we could be suffering from collective compassion fatigue.
Noodle the Pug lets us know if it’s a “no bones” day.
Dope Labs Podcast is back in 1 week! That means you don’t have to just read my words, you can also hear my voice too! I know, I know…torture.
Speaking of Arrival, the same director (Denis Villeneuve) made a pretty big splash with the release of Dune on HBO Max last week.
I’m ready for part two right now. Release it! If you watched the trailer for Arrival above, I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to pick out some similarities between the movies, but I like them both so it works for me.
I’m semi-looking forward to The Harder They Fall. I haven’t had a chance to watch it but all the press has me interested. Based on the reviews (including a scathing one from a close friend), I’m not excited at all for Colin in Black and White.
The Gallery
This is a new section of screenshots presented without commentary. Lowkey, I’m sort of lying because some of these have captions. Get into it…or don’t. Your call!
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Agree completely about Arrival and the Insecure soundtrack is GOAT’d. Hopefully you get some cooking inspiration soon and share it here!