Weekend Roundup / Open Thread

I’m writing this on a train!! It’s nice!! Trains are chill!! If I could give trains a grade it would be an A+, great job at being a train, would ride again.

This was a week for ranking and grading things, or so it would appear. Jamie gave us a detailed breakdown of the YouTube comments for Mandy Moore’s extremely important 1999 song “Candy,” while Alex listed disappointments in their correct order and grudgingly accepted that Ghost World is still amazing. Johannah listed some contemporary art that bears a surprising resemblance to certain popular cartoon characters; coincidence or intentional parallels? Only you can be the judge.

I unleashed a torrent of feelings about a slang term for a certain bodily fluid while Alex spoke to Karolina Waclawiak about groupies and other kinds of kept women. We listened to a doomed romance playlist, and then listened to it again, because if there’s one thing misery loves beyond company it’s self-indulgence. A Queer Chick gave us the advice we need, Baba Yaga told us how to stop our gross habits, and Alex recalled some great tips from Christopher Pike novels on keeping your hair healthy and beautiful. Three people living with herpes told us about their experiences. We got some wisdom from and about Cookie Mueller and Charlotte shared a poem she likes to text to her friends.

This weekend, I’ll be in the place I took this train for, and I hope to grade it with at least an A+ or higher. Where are you going this weekend? Do you have any preliminary thoughts on how that place will rank?