You guys, this is not news but Snail Mail is really good. Even if you don’t even like punk. She also appears to have an excellent copywriter on hand, who has spared me the time of describing her music by critiquing her entire debut album. It appears on her website in large-face cursive scrawl, so let me save *you* some time with a few excerpts: “Lindsey Jordan is on the brink of something huge, and she’s only just graduated high school… “Is there any better feeling than coming clean?” sings the eighteen-year-old guitarist and songwriter halfway through the sprawling anthem that is “Pristine,” the album’s first single… a question she seems to be grappling with throughout the record’s 10-songs of crystalline guitar pop.” Her in-house talent is not wrong. Take a listen.
It was gonna happen: this month, everyone is so busy discarding whatever doesn’t spark joy that consignment stores are overrun with Kondo castoffs. Goodwill donations in D.C. are reportedly up 66% over last January, and at least 10% in Houston. This is of course great news for all those not Kondoing– I hear there’s a fair amount of joy to be found in a good deal. But here’s a question: does Goodwill drop their prices when there’s a glut, the way a regular retail store would? Or do they just sell more stuff at the same low price? Someone pls investigate.
We knew Marie Kondo was popular, but what wasn’t quite clear until now is that she’s a total swiss-army knife. She’s given us two books and a show, of course, but the media runoff has really expanded the empire. This week, every news outlet has a piece on how to apply KonMari to some area that she hasn’t quite addressed. Travel & Leisure, for example, offers a tutorial on how to Kondo your browser. The Independent does one better and asks to Kondo your whole digital life. Dazed will Kondo your makeup bag, another site’s got your bathroom. And the wellness app Shine can teach you to KONDO YOUR MIND. (‘Does this thought spark joy?’ No. ‘Ok then how about action?’) My advice to you: open every Kondo tutorial you can find; allow them to sit in your browser for the morning while you accomplish whatever else you need; come lunch, acknowledge your clutter, thank it, and close every tab. Oh look, we got through the tutorial already.
You know what all the hype is telling you: BUY THE BOOK. ✨Buuuyyyy iiiiiittttt.✨ Then you can look back on it in two years and decide if it sparks joy or not (and whether KonMari applies to the rest of your books— controversial). But for now, it’s back at the top of Amazon’s bestsellers.
