HELLO and welcome to the 154th installment of Things I Read That I Love, wherein I share with you some of the longer-form journalism/essays I’ve read recently so that you can read them too and we can all know more about Chris Rock! This “column” is less feminist/queer focused than the rest of the site because when something is feminist/queer focused, I put it on the rest of the site. Here is where the other things are.

The title of this feature is inspired by the title of Emily Gould’s tumblr, Things I Ate That I Love.

That Time I Spent Nine Hours In Jail, by Tina Rowley for The Stranger, November 2014

“Now, I didn’t know a lot about the law, but I did know how to read, and I could read right there on the piece of paper that told me about my court date that if I didn’t show up, a warrant would be put out for my arrest. But that just seemed crazy. Really? A warrant? For my arrest? Naah. I’m just this mild little lady. But then the actual warrant arrived in the mail, so then that seemed pretty convincing.”

Can Chris Rock Make The Leap To Leading Man, by Kelefa Sanneh for The New Yorker, November 2014

Chris Rock is one of my favorite comedians! I wish he didn’t like Woody Allen so much. His next movie sounds good.

In The Gay Wing of L.A. County Jail, It’s Not Shanks and Muggings But Hand-Sewn Gowns and Tears, by Ani Ucar for LA Weekly, November 2014

In the Gay Wing, which houses gay and transgender inmates, the inmates feel like family, there’s very little violence, and the inmates are very passionate about clothing alternation. I was surprised to hear that there was a gay wing at all, and was also surprised by how stereotypical the subjects of this article were?

The Wet Stuff, by Bryan Curtis (photographs by Kevin Cooley, illustrations by L-Dopa) for Grantland, October 14

This is a definitive, gloriously visual and thorough history of the water park — its early innovators, its present-day entrepreneurs and where it fits in to tourism culture and the theme park industry overall. You’ll also hear the story behind water park mainstays like the Lazy River, the wave pool, the imperative “skyline” ride. I’ve mostly avoided waterparks as they manage to combine at least five of my least favorite things about being alive. It turns out the biggest names in water parks are all egomaniac men, surprise!

All About My Mother: What The Living Expect Of The Dying, by Meghan Daum for The Guardian, November 2014

“In our family, being good children did not have to do with table manners or doing well in school but with going along with my mother’s various ideas about herself and the rest of us. Mostly they amounted to white lies, little exaggerations that only made us look petty if we called her out on them so we usually didn’t. Or at least we didn’t any more. There was a period of at least 15 years, from approximately age 18 to age 34, when every interaction I had with my mother entailed some attempt on my part to cut through what I perceived as a set of intolerable affectations.”

All-American Girl at 20: The Evolution of Asian Americans on TV, by E. Alex Jung for The Los Angeles Review of Books

What’s funny is this is the first really critical review of All-American Girl (a show I LOVED and mourned) I’ve read and I’ve read quite a bit about the show — the fact of its existence has been historically lauded in a way that transcends criticism.

How My Little Pony Became a Cult for Grown Men and Preteen Girls Alike, by Lisa Miller for New York Magazine, November 2014

If you’ve already watched “Bronies” then a lot of this material will be familiar to you, but I feel like I’m one article like this away from sitting down and watching this damn show AND THIS WAS THE ARTICLE. Mostly this one focused on what a great series it is for young girls.

Stop Trying To Save The World, by Michael Hobbes for The New Republic, November 2014

I have legitimately no idea what I think of this article because it’s not a topic I know a lot about and there were parts when I couldn’t tell what side of the issue this guy was coming down on and how far that side might be from my side. It’s a really interesting take on things, at the very least! It’s basically about how large-scale international development projects don’t work and part of why they don’t work is because they are large-scale. The way he talks about different problems was innovative and compelling, I felt.

Writing People of Color, by MariNaomi for Midnight Breakfast

You may have already read this by now but if not, do it today. MariNaomi, who is AWESOME and you should get to know her, gets input from a variety of POC comic artists who share images and words to explain their perspectives on the issue.

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