February Wrap-Up

Listen, It's Not Our Fault February Is So GD Short

Hello! Welcome to our very late February wrap-up. But please explain to us how January was eight months long and February lasted eighteen minutes, because the math isn’t mathing.

Anyway, we’re sorry for the delay, and here’s what we’ve been up to in the twelve seconds since our last monthly wrap.

What We’re Reading

Jen: I still can’t bring myself to read books for pleasure. Ever since the election, I’ve been able to concentrate only on what edifies. So last month I read Dear America: Notes from an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas. (He’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, so it’s incredibly well-written.) Vargas came to this country from the Philippines as a kid and he didn’t know he was here illegally until he tried to get his driver’s license. He spent the next thirty years hiding, freaking out, and trying to right his situation in a system designed to keep him out. What I didn’t realize is that crossing into this country without proper documentation is an illegal act, but then existing here without documents isn’t. Also, the undocumented paid $100B in taxes in 2022. Do with that info what you will. I was very pleased to learn that because of his exceptional contributions to our society, he’s now finally been given legal status.

I’m also reading Michael Wolff’s All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America. Is it just as depressing as you’d imagine, especially because I know how it ends? Yes. Yes, it is.

Karyn: I read the first two chapters of Tartine Bread four hundred times because I couldn't get the GD bread right — but after four failed loaves, I finally did! (More about this in the “What We’re Cooking” section.)

Sadly, that was the only book I read in February because I was too busy doomscrolling the news in my free time. I need to get back to actual reading in March, preferably something that doesn’t make me want to throw my phone across the room.

What We’re Watching

Jen: TFG for television right now. Mostly, I watch too much news and that isn’t good for my mental state, so I’m taking a concerted effort to diversify the content I consume.

As you know, we’re recapping The Baldwins and it’s a mess, in the best/worst way. (Karyn really should be in charge of their lives.) I just finished watching Paradise, which was spectacular. Sterling K. Brown can do no wrong, but I would also like to make the case for James Marsden. I need him to be a part of it next season, and I don’t know how they’ll do that, but they’d best find a way.

Fletch and I have been watching Reacher, which is just fun. We also finished The Recruit, which was just cancelled, ergo I am BIG MAD because it’s a perfect blend of spy action, adventure, and comedy. Gearing up for The Traitors finale and reunion, which I think is tonight. (I’m writing this on Thursday.) Also, we’re watching Love Is Blind and I still can’t tell any of the men apart.

I’ve been most intrigued to watch (with an eye toward hating) With Love, Meghan, having seen it mocked so thoroughly on social media. Yet at worst, it’s entirely inoffensive and at best, it’s lovely and bucolic and calming in the way that the Great British Baking Show is lovely and bucolic and calming. So now I’m mad at the British press for painting a picture of her that seems more and more inaccurate. I feel like she just wants to decant stuff from one thing, put it in another vessel, and wrap it with a bow. That’s not a crime; it’s a vibe.

Karyn: We need to watch With Love, Meghan! Even if we don’t do a full recap, we could at least fire off a couple of posts about it. I want to feel sorry for her (truly, I do), but I just watched a clip where she corrected Mindy Kaling for calling her “Meghan Markle” like some kind of commoner. (It’s Meghan Sussex, you plebes!) So cringe.