Screentime & Despair #1: Bralettes
Early in February—aka four decades ago—I walked into the store Aerie to buy this sweatshirt, and walked out with 4 new bralettes I didn’t need (YET.)
Aerie is American Eagle's sister store, and I shop there entirely too often for someone fifteen years older than their target audience. In case you're not fluent in bird terminology, an aerie is an eagle's nest. Aerie the store sells pajamas, bras, underwear. You know, things you wear in your NEST. (This name always seemed like a strange marketing choice to me. Do young women age 15-25 usually know the technical term for an eagle's nest?)
Maybe I just gave you a new conversation starter to break out at parties zoom calls. Or maybe you're like "yeah no shit, do you know anything about eagles? They love to lounge around their aerie in tie dyed joggers and lace bralettes."
I don't know anything about birds, but the reality of our current situation is that I might be an expert by the time we're done social distancing. The other day I was gazing out my window hoping to see something exciting like a garbage truck when I noticed a bird hopping around, scoping out a spot to make a nest. I grabbed my daughter to watch because an ACTIVITY had just flown into our laps and I was going to milk this for at LEAST five minutes.
The bird surveyed the spot where it had landed, then hopped to a slightly higher nook and started pacing around the new spot. After a moment, it moved to a different eave, checked it out, then hopped back to the first.
"The second spot was cozier," I told my husband later, completely serious like it was an episode of Bird House Hunters. "But I think it will choose the first."
Day 17ish of this. We’re fine. Our brains are fine.
Our boobs are better than fine, thanks to all those bralettes. I haven’t worn a bra in weeks, and I think maybe my daughter has noticed?
+ Connect: I can't convince my friends to have a powerpoint party (time to find new friends) but maybe you can? (Also the people in this story are 14, but I’ve seen adults on instagram doing these with presentations like “why peas are gross.” I think mine would be Mary Kate and Ashley related. Their top ten looks, maybe? I'll keep you posted.)
+ Click: Photographer Jamie Beck is creating a new print every day of social distancing. Is panic-buying art a week three thing? I guess we'll find out. We need art nOw MoRe ThaN eVeR (how sick of that phrase are you?)
+ Read: The only reason I know the word for an eagle's nest is a bit of dialogue in the YA book Fangirl. YA books are my soothing go-to for stressful situations like airplane turbulence...and global pandemics. Some YA I've loved or is on my list: Somewhere Only We Know, With the Fire on High, Permanent Record, The Thousandth Floor.
+ 5 minutes of kid entertainment: Take your government-sanctioned daily walk from 15 minutes to 20 minutes with the app Seek, which is essentially Shazam for nature. Or use it to figure out what type of bird is on today's episode of Bird House Hunters.
Thank you so much for reading! Need book recommendations? Or have a tip to keep your kid entertained for five minutes? Want to have a powerpoint party? Just reply to this e-mail!