The Weekend Snack 2.11.24

That time Punxsutawney Phil made me cry.

Welcome to the Weekend Snack - a quick roundup of my favorite bites from the past weekend.

Happy Sunday! The weather is surprisingly mild in New York, so my mind is prematurely wandering to warm weather activities, which inevitably means there’ll be a cold front to keep my daydreaming in check (me in said future cold front). Today’s snack is bite-sized, but be sure to check out Tuesday’s menu for Valentine’s Day-themed recs - ranging from “yay love” to “everyone’s a serial killer.” In the meantime, here are a few favorites from the weekend.

Sarah Paulson and Elle Fanning in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Appropriate.

• 🗞️ My Year of Bragging by Alice Stanley Jr. I loved this guest essay from the Little Things newsletter. In 2023, the author resolved to brag 365 times. Though it wasn’t always easy (and sometimes the brags were maybe even inappropriately timed), what followed was the obvious but still somehow enlightening realization that advocating for yourself has a materially positive impact on the outcomes in your life.

• 🗞️ The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok by Cory Doctorow. An illuminating article on the life cycle of platforms and the self-created downfall they all seem to succumb to. Doctorow builds an incisive and understandably cynical case by discussing various familiar examples and the business mechanics and economics behind their demise. Worth a read and a discussion.

• 📺 One Day. This weekend, I started watching the newest adaptation of the eponymously titled David Nichols novel. I’m finished with all fourteen episodes - but I’ve been devouring it. I wasn’t a fan of the 2011 Anne Hathaway/Jim Sturgess version, but I’m enjoying this take on the story of two intertwined lives over twenty years. Leo Woodall (previously Tom Hollander’s “nephew” in The White Lotus) is both charismatic and achingly sad in what feels like a star-making romantic lead performance (think Heath Ledger or, more recently, Paul Mescal). Ambika Mod is also fantastic - conveying, with just a look, that aching feeling of unrequited love for someone who continually disappoints you. It’s gut-wrenching and good for a laugh (the overly serious paramour doing karaoke in the second episode killed me), plus the soundtrack is great.

• 🎭 Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins at Helen Hayes Theater. If you’re in the New York area and a Sarah Paulson fan, I’d make time to see this play. The premise is compelling - siblings return to their dilapidated ancestral plantation home to sort out their late father’s estate, only to find a horrific discovery amongst the clutter that brings up questions about their family’s history and who their dad really was (questions they don’t really want to grapple with). The ensemble is powerful, and the family dynamic feels authentic. Sarah Paulson is everything you’d expect, and Cory Stoll and Natalie Gold are particularly strong (they go toe-to-toe with Paulson - not an easy feat). I found it long at points and sometimes structurally frustrating, but I still can’t stop thinking about it, which says something. 

These are linen, but you get the vibe (Meryl Streep in Nancy Meyers’ It’s Complicated).

• 🧦 Silk Pajamas. As a summer girl through and through, this post-holiday season portion of winter is challenging for me. To lessen the winter malaise, I recently upgraded my sweats to silk pajamas, and I can’t help but feel like a sophisticated Nancy Meyers character every time I sit on the sofa. Silk pajamas can be a splurge, but they feel like a life hack for creating a cozy winter existence. Asceno and Sleeper are my go-to brands.

And I’ll leave you with my favorite recent TikTok craze - a crowdsourced musical about Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog who predicts when winter will end). After learning that the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club gives Phil a magic elixir to stay alive forever but doesn’t give it to his wife, TikTok user @olivesongs was inspired to write this song (is it Sondheim!?). Below is one of the many duets spurred from his creation. Am I crying about Punxsutawney Phil and his wife Phylis? Yes, yes, I am. Maybe the internet isn’t entirely “enshittified” just yet. 

@elysemyers#duet with @olivesongs - Groundhogs Day: The Musical 🎶

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What did you watch this weekend? Let me know in the comments. And don’t forget to subscribe and share The Culture Diet.