Hey APW!
I can vaguely remember the beginning of this year, when I thought that the worst thing 2016 was going to throw at us was the death of David Bowie. Make no mistake—that death hit me hard. Now I’m beginning to think that we should have all seen this entire year coming. I don’t mean to say that his death is as terrible as the many, many horrific things we’ve seen so far in 2016 in cities around the world, including Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Baghdad, Baton Rouge, St. Paul, Dallas, and now Nice, France (where over eighty people were killed yesterday while watching fireworks and celebrating Bastille Day), but that… I don’t know, guys. This year is a really hard one. And it’s just July.
I wanted to write a fun little Happy Hour about how I’m in Portland, Oregon, for a few days, and how wonderful it’s been to see my son hang out with his friends here and once more stomp the streets of the city where he was born. I had three paragraphs planned about George, my friend’s super cute kitten. But it feels disrespectful to ignore what’s happened in the world this week.
Having said that, I think joy for joy’s sake is especially valuable when everything feels like it’s falling apart. Right now, in this moment, the biggest obstacle I face is fending off a small kitten who wants to eat my blueberries, and I’m thankful for that. This week, we don’t want you to feel compelled to share something happy just because, or to discuss the Nice attacks just because, or do anything just because.
Here’s Happy Hour. Make it what you need—or what you want.
XO,
Stephanie
Link roundup
For the nerds: “First-person drone racing is like a real-life Tron.”
Do you have Olympics fever? “Gymnastics Hair: a Retrospective.”
“Behold Your Newest Silver-Screen Sex Goddess: Jane Neighbor.”