March forward

Aaaaaand it’s March now. 

Don’t really have anything inspirational to say up top this month, but i wanted to include the Illinois Black Advocacy Initiative’s response to Pritzker’s upcoming budget, lest we seem only to present the billionaire's side. Their concerns are rooted in the funding of the educational institutions, which as someone who is going to navigate those waters upsettingly soon, are fully valid.

Okay maybe i do have something inspirational - please spend the 1.5 minutes watching this video of the Army choir singing at the governor's ball about violently toppling a monarchy. I've watched it several times and cried every time. Please also enjoy their fear realizing they've been encircled.

Hard transition time!! As always, we've also included things to watch out for in the upcoming month, and a look at what's happening on our Patreon (which you can join for ~as little as a dollar~) & Discord which is open to all!

And now: f e e l i n g s

STELLA:

February was mostly me crying and being angry and then being really zen about giving myself IVF shots. But Stella, why not have your husband do it? First of all, if a doctor isn’t putting the needle in, then the only other person STABBING me will be me. Also, he’s afraid of needles. 

But hey I survived. And no, I don’t know if I’m WITH CHILD yet but now that I’ve done the whole process I feel way less hmmm… let’s say unhinged about it so if I gotta do it again, I will probably not freak out as much. Probably. 

It was my birthday yesterday and I bought myself a fancy cake. I can’t link a photo to it because spoiler alert we write these early, but go to my instagram and tell me how cute my cake is! 

If I had to recommend one newsletter other than ours it would be Saeed Jones on substack. The essays are short, funny, poignant, thoughtful, and weirdly hopeful? Even when he’s talking about all the BAD, which he doesn’t shy away from. Highly recommend it. 

I cannot stop listening to this song. It’s SO catchy. rattlesnake noise

I’m obsessed with hair braiding videos. My favorites are by DestineesHair because she’s down to earth and funny but DAMN she is talented. This is my version of asmr. I find hair braiding videos mesmerizing. 

Screaming. Crying. Throwing Up. 

And finally, I canceled my amazon prime account and you should too!

ERIN

When I wasn’t feeling isolated or depressed as fuck, I was working on Februllage. If you're unfamiliar (likely lol), it's a collage challenge on Instagram where you make one collage a day for the month of February based on a pre-released prompt list. It’s really cool seeing the different interpretations of single words, and very inspiring to see the wide variety of execution. I have a highlight on my insta of all of the ones that I did this month, and you can see my previous years works at #ercpromptproject some of which are good. 

One band I’ve really leaned back into is The Vaccines - I got absolutely shot at the moon lucky and was able to see them this year on about two days notice and I am so deeply, deeply happy I went. I’ve been mainlining their entire discography, and now my kid will ask for their videos when we’re hanging out! THE DREAM! Anyway, this video is pretty much how I feel all the time right now.

S  E  V  E  R  A  N  C  E

PRODUCER BOBBY:

MENTAL HEALTH TALK UNTIL NEXT SECTION: I spent most of this month asleep. I tried to do a lot of work in December to build some structures for myself to lean on this year and this month they all felt like they washed out from underneath me. Short, small d depressions can give way to longer capital D Depressions without me realizing it, but they really are quite functionally different for me. One’s a weighted blanket you use until it gets too warm and then throw it off in the night, the other is a bathrobe you wear like a uniform until you wake up feeling like someone else. At least it’s comfortable?

I saw a weird funny old guy in a commercial, and it reminded me that I’ve always wanted to get old so that I can be a weird funny old guy in commercials. So I’m gonna do that.

I do a lot of journaling for myself, and I have to admit it still feels weird to write about myself like this for other people to see. But we’re all here reading this by choice, there’s something to that. ... Fuck, I hope you’re reading this by choice.     

Reading list for March: My reading list this month includes-

The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers (Y.A.-ish honry sci-fi!)

Something In The Woods Loves You - Jarod K. Anderson (Deeply sentimental mental health and naturalism)

A bitch. Has. RANGE. 

Watch recs: Quoth the Cline: S  E  V  E  R  A  N  C  E

Play Recs: It’s Hunting Season! Monster Hunter Wilds is out. It’s a multiplayer game I can play without voice or text chat. Just music and vibes and my gunlance or hunting horn. Looking for some weirder shit? Check out the PC demo for Promise Mascot Agency or just watch this gameplay video (love this channel btw.) It’s... absurd and SO odd and hilarious and that’s what we need right now. 

Looking like I’ll get to run some games for my friends this month, and play a few more. Activity based socialization has always been so much more comfortable for me, so I’m looking forward to getting out of the house (in person games) or at least out of my head (virtual insanity.)

Listen recs: My burlesque company ends this month with a Millennial Meltdown show the same month Lacuna Coil (gothic metal, formed in ‘94) puts out a new album?! And it’s pretty good?! whatyearisit.gif Backpack indie hip hop forefathers Brother Ali and producer Ant joined forces once again to release the hopeful Satisfied Soul. Heck, crust punk kids are even eating well this month with the Friends In Real Life album, a new AJJ ep of demos, and a new single from The Taxpayers. Hm? Yes? Oh that’s right. 

A bitch. Has. RANGE.

Support journalism! Producer Bobby talked a few months ago about getting your news and media generally from more conscious places. Here’s a small list of some of the journalism (including print!) we support and recommend:

• Teen Vogue no longer does a print edition, but they are doing truly best in their field work in their digital space. Not joking when I say I would trust Teen Vogue as a source 1000x more than the NYT or WP.

• Rolling Stone is more pricey but they have been doing excellent work again and their digital site is great

• You can get Wired for $12 for an entire year, digital and physical copy, they are doing excellent reporting about what's happening and not just being An Insider

• Vanity Fair is $18 for an entire year, digital and physical copy, they also have been doing truthful reporting and also their physical copy is pretty.

• Vogue is popcorn for your brain, without the doomscroll sandwich. Give your brain a little break.

• Eater put out an excellent guide for what to do if ICE comes to your restaurant, and is not bowing the knee

• Gizmodo it's also accurately reporting on the fuckery and not sainwashing it

• Defector is great - headed by Drew Magary they left Deadspin and have maintained a great source of independent media.

Things coming this month:

• Today!! March 1st! If you can get yourself to the Newport Theater in Chicago you can see Stella, Robbie, and Sid in Millennial Meltdown: A Nostalgic Cabaret!

• 2 X-Treks episodes this month on 3/14 and 3/28

• New Not Your Demo drops late this month due to don't worry about it

• Will we still be on Instagram in the April newsletter? Only if the Bluesky alternative isn’t up yet! Until then at @nydproductions you can get show announcements, hilarious clips, and general revelry. 

• Tumblr?? y/n? Jk jk.. unless..

Exclusive to our Patreon (it's only a dollar!) and open for all Discord!

• March book club information is in our Discord (it’s free!)

• X-Treks xtras on the Patreon include:

  • Show notes - Our watch-along notes. Stella & Erin’s first reactions to the episodes as they watch them for the first time

  • Scripts - even if you have listened to the show, there is so much that goes into the script that we sometimes just skip right over! Find an easter egg!

  • Episode outtakes of dubious content

• Maybe a new episode of Unofficial Channels….maybe.

And, of course, we’re having a delightful time in the Discord generally, come hang with us. Come with your meme game set to stun.

• Once a month Erin has been livetweeting (livediscording??) as she reads through a fanfic provided by Stella in Stella’s Link Lounge. It is not Erin’s thing but she is giving it a go and having some controversial thoughts! (If you have recs we can also throw those in the pool, you just let us know)

• Witness the screaming, crying, throwing up as it unfolds in the cr-d20 feed.

• You can even request bespoke emojis for the chats in the Emoji Request Hotline, a thing no one has done since 2022, somehow.

I had to use my bifocals to write this.