Illustration by Isha Khanzode.

Illustration by Isha Khanzode.

Newsletter: Her library, her walls

Her library, her walls is a newsletter that rounds up poems and stories from seven authors, give or take, each month. Launched in April, Her library, her walls primarily publishes (as its title alludes) work by female writers. Each issue is a quick read—you can get through it on a commute to school or work. The writing transmits weighty ideas that are accessible, not intimidating or out of reach. The newsletter welcomes submissions from readers, and quite a few contributors are people who I’m used to seeing express themselves via visual art, for example: Justine Reyes, an NYC-based artist who submitted poetry to the May issue. I actively follow Justine’s work, but I had never seen her publicly display her writing. I’m glad that Her library, her walls offers space for artists like her to creatively expand, and exposes readers like me to new artists I wouldn’t have found otherwise. Subscribe here and wait for your inbox’s monthly treat! —Rachel Davies

Classic Movie: Show Me Love (1998)

Show Me Love is one of the few movies that made me cry at the end—not only for plot-related reasons, but because I was sad it was over. (This ’90s-era trailer just doesn’t do it justice.) I first watched it during a summer when I felt especially alone about sexuality and its representation in movies: I wanted nothing more than to see two girls who also had a litany of problems fall in love. I don’t want to give anything away, but this movie now has a special place in my heart. It’s relatable and has wonderful cinematography and an overall exciting nature, and it exists in that perfect middle ground between absolute tragedy and an excess of “everything is fine and everything is always fine.” As a girl who likes girls, it can be difficult to find cinematic representation that doesn’t seem implausible/banal or incredibly miserable, but Show Me Love feels so much like real life at every point. It’s a mesh of the good and the bad. —Britney Franco

Video Series: Get Ready With Me by Rian Phin

The YouTube videos by Rian Phin are consistently thoughtful, practical, and hilarious (you may have read Thahabu’s writeup of one about makeup and power back in April). I especially love Rian’s Get Ready With Me video series. These types of videos often focus on makeup looks and how to recreate them, but Rian’s are more similar to what getting ready with an actual friend would be like: They are less about getting ready and more about casual storytelling and exalting the things you love. Though only four minutes long, this particular installment touches on identity theft, racist vegans, and a “swingy mom bob”:

I will literally watch Rian talk about anything! It will always be funny, even when it’s serious. Watch for inspiration if you’re thinking of changing up your hair or need some comfort after a questionable haircut decision. —Madeline Keyes-Levine

Classic Internet: Surprise.ly

Sending YouTube links back and forth with friends sometimes is the only way to power through your afternoon. Who doesn’t want to get a kitten fail video mid-day, or take part in watching one of the 300 videos uploaded to YouTube a minute?! (Yes, that’s a real statistic!) But the descriptive words in links are often spoiler alerts telling you exactly what you’re about to see. In 2014, the artist/programmer duo David Lewandowski and Max Lazarov created Surprise.ly, a website that allows you to paste in a YouTube link and create a new, surprise link for it! It even gives you the option to select start and end times, or to loop and re-contextualize the audio by dubbing the sound. Getting a Surprise.ly is like unwrapping a present, and gives you the opportunity to watch something new and spontaneous without any preconceived notions. Try it for yourself and send your friends some mysterious links! —Ambar Navarro ♦