What Is This, a Crossover Episode?

This newsletter is brought to you by friendships forged in the fires of undergraduate angst and Korean BBQ.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of a new series wherein Homebody and Girl, Online (written by Iris and Mbiye, respectively) team up to give you recommendations of what to watch, read, listen to, eat, and pay attention to.

Iris: I don’t think I would’ve started Homebody without you suggesting it, so guest starring on each other’s newsletters is a real full circle moment for me. This has probably overtaken the That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana episode in my personal ranking of crossover events. 

Mbiye: To be honest that was a pretty selfish suggestion because I love reading your writing! This is really a Shondaland level crossover – How to Get Away With Murder x Scandal, baby. 

Iris: That’s a much more fitting reference for two adult women. I promise I’ve long since grown out of my Disney Channel era. Although, Olivia Rodrigo was my top artist of 2021 … 

Mbiye: … No comment lol. I’m excited to bring our imessage chat into a different medium, I feel like all we do is exchange links, which I love. With that, let’s get this show on the road.

---

If you’re too lazy to cook breakfast … 

Try the 45 Second Omelet Maker from Uncommon Goods. As I plan on living on my own soon, I’ve been scrambling (no pun intended) to figure out easy, affordable ways to feed myself so I don’t blow my entire budget on takeout. This stoneware clay dish is a lazy girl’s best friend. Shout out to master potter Tony from Texas who makes them microwave, dishwasher, and oven safe. The campaign to get Tony on the Great Pottery Throw Down as a judge starts now.

–Iris

If you’re as passionate about summer grilling as I am …

This cast iron griddle my roommate got me for my birthday might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I love to grill but I live in NYC and have yet to get a grill (honestly how does one assess whether a grill is … good) so this does just the trick, especially since I’m usually cooking for one. Last weekend I made skirt steak with chimichurri using it and it was … como se dice … sensational.

–Mbiye 

If you’re into being edged but, like, musically … 

Listen to Charli XCX’s criminally short b-side, Yuck. MISSING: The bridge and the final chorus of this song. REWARD IF FOUND: The eternal gratitude of pop lovers the world over.

–Iris

If you want to be transported to BarTHElona … 

Listen to Rosalia’s newest album, Motomami. The entire album is good, but La Fama has literally been on repeat for the last three weeks. Between the bachata beat, The Weeknd’s surprisingly good feature, and Rosalia’s synthy humming underscoring the whole thing, this song is infectiously good.

–Mbiye

If you want to make sense of your anger and shame … 

Read Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong. This essay collection from the Korean American poet and author has teeth. One anecdote that’s stuck with me since I first read it is her fixation on a Korean American therapist who tells Hong that she doesn’t accept her health insurance and to find a different therapist. Hong leaves pleading voicemails until the therapist finally answers, but their conversation quickly sours. “I have another patient waiting,” the therapist says at the end. “Don’t fuck her up too,” Hong shoots back. Later, Hong writes a scorched-earth rant on RateMyTherapist.com: “Koreans are repressed! Rigid! Cold! They should not be allowed to work in the mental health care profession!” The shared ethnicity between therapist and patient was not “a shortcut to intimacy” or “knowing herself,” as Hong had expected. Jeong, an untranslatable word that denotes the “instantaneous deep connection” often felt between Koreans, was nowhere to be found. “Maybe I was undergoing a kind of transference, to use the psychoanalytic parlance, but was she supposed to be my mother, my lover, or—what?” 

–Iris

If you’re really craving another workplace sitcom … 

Watch South Side. South Side is like The Office if The Office was set in south side Chicago, took place in a rent-to-own center, and had more than two recurring Black characters. The show follows two main characters, Simon and Kareme, as they navigate post-community college life working for Kareme’s older brother. While the show might be centered around the two men, the rest of the cast comes together to create an ensemble that touches every type of humor imaginable. This show works for me because it’s a great example of what happens when studios allow more Black creators to create without limits – the second season benefits greatly from a production studio switch (Comedy Central to HBO) and the budget boost that came with it. It’s funny and a little weird, and so different from other Black media that I have seen. We all benefit so greatly when studios move past tokenism and start to allow different narratives to surface.

–Mbiye

If you’re having trouble focusing on a TV show or movie for longer than a few minutes at a time … 

Watch the HidaMari Cooking YouTube channel. HidaMari Cooking’s videos are like a cold compress for my brain – everything goes blissfully numb and quiet. I never thought I’d be so soothed by watching someone gently whip custard or scrape a vanilla bean, but I’ve found this channel an easier watch than almost anything else recently. HidaMari Cooking and the sound design of Portrait of a Lady on Fire are the closest I’ve ever come to understanding the appeal of ASMR.

–Iris

If you need a vacation read … 

Try Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola. I am a long time fan of Bolu, the self proclaimed Yorubaddie writer based out of London. My favorite thing about Bolu is that she loves love, and it shows in this book. Love in Colour is a collection of reinterpreted mythical love stories from all over the world. Personally my favorite part of romantic storylines are the little things, the hand flex, the look across the room as the two lovers finally meet, the moment just before they speak when they’re just taking each other in. From what I can tell, Bolu feels the same way. She expertly weaves in details that make each story feel so personal and real. Reading this book feels like having a crush, which is exactly what I need to take my mind off of the fact that I’m hurtling through the sky in a metal tube :)

–Mbiye

If you inhaled every shallow, gleefully amoral YA novel you could get your grubby little hands on as an adolescent …

Read Alison Herman’s feature on the company responsible for cracking the formula of tween page-to-screen hits like Gossip Girl, The Clique, Pretty Little Liars, The A-List, The Vampire Diaries and more.

–Iris

If you want to look sunkissed despite spending your days indoors working from home … 

Try Tower28’s bronzer. Tower28 is an AAPI-owned clean beauty brand that I am newly obsessed with. Their bronzer makes me look like I spend my days tanning and use the word summer as a verb. It strikes the perfect balance between dewy and shiny, and has replaced my Glossier Haloscope (if you know me this is huge). I also love the brand’s lip products, and they just released a skin tint I am dying to try.

–Mbiye