The Fried Daze 5 | 1.31.2025
We panicked, but we also read 💗
This week’s post is a dehydrated trudge across my keyboard. My fingers feel lazy, slamming each key, trying to find the invisible thread that gives a piece of work the flow. Writers will understand what I am talking about. As my soul sister Zoe (ahem, and author of the outstanding How to Have Fun in the Apocolypse) says, we are all just wearily bleating, “Heh. What?” watching every line get crossed, every hour of the day. And Zoe, yes, I know, this was a very flowery reinterpretation of our actual text conversation. ( No one has ever said the phrase “wearily bleating” IRL.)
Yesterday, I decided to log off from my usual doom-scrolling apps before bed. Okay, that’s a little bit of revisionist history. I actually have to use an app that literally locks me out of TikTok, or else my body will take the steering wheel from my pea brain, and it’s a three-hour commute down a highway littered with makeup tutorials, mid-size clothing recommendations, and easily the most violent, distressing news, speculation, and research you could think of at any given moment.
Anyway, there I was, feeling—let’s just say it—freewheeling and smug, released from the chains of reality and curled up with a lowbrow fantasy book. And then, my partner reasonably asked me if I was following the unfolding story about a commercial plane crash. What do you mean, an unfolding story about a commercial plane crash?
This January has been relentlessly abusive. I like to blast a Spotify playlist called “Cocktail Jazz” about nine hours a day to make me feel anything else besides, you know…what is this we’re all feeling? I also lie to myself and pretend that my cats fight less when our home sounds like a chophouse at happy hour.
History certainly repeats itself. Regrettably, in most cases. I have my rant ready to go about how Trump and his cronies are following the Nazi Germany playbook down to a tee if you’re interested in hearing me be completely, utterly insufferable.
However, as we’ve seen before, in the darkest hours, artists continue to create. Comedians still tell jokes. Musicians still make music. And writers still write—and for that, I am grateful. On that note, here are five things I read this week that I really enjoyed:
“I love two things in this world: sugar and myself. One result of my nonstop efforts to delight myself is that I end up consuming, every day, vast quantities of sugar. Oh, my God, I forgot my husband. Sorry, I love three things in this world: sugar and myself and my husband.” This piece follows Caity Weaver to a bizarre health clinic in Europe where she attempts to kick her sugar addiction. Her writer’s voice is genuinely delightful, and she really takes the reader on a ride. However, one caveat. She makes a point to frequently mention how thin she is, how little she exercises, and how healthy her bloodwork is. It comes off a little—dare I say—early aughts. It’s reminiscent of Lorelei Gilmore and her consequence-free food binges. That being said, it’s worth a read, even just to consider what this story would have looked like in the hands of a different author with a different body type and a different health profile (honestly, myself included.)
I’m a little hypocritical because I literally have a sugaring appointment booked today, but I also think encouraging people to let their natural body hair fly free is a positive development. Don’t you love to see news that doesn’t hurt anyone?
“Eros—carnal desire—is an embodied experience, and our phones do a terrific job of getting us out of our bodies and into our heads. In the digital age, we often neglect our bodies entirely, and use them merely as a way to transport our heads to meetings.”
This is a gorgeous, decadent, startling, melancholy-fueled spiral that makes a powerful case for how our phones are pretty much chipping away at all the best and most magical parts that make us human. Read to the end for a real mic drop of a closing line.
I felt a little sad when I saw that Rhode’s latest ads borrowed from a particularly famous 90’s Versace campaign. Something about that look—the metallic mini skirts and pastel cropped sweaters–has always felt eternally meant for cozy Pinterest fashion boards, not the feverish internet trend cycle. Certain celebrities have a way of bringing things into the mainstream and stripping them of their warmth, joy, and fun. And I’m not a Rhode hater—I really do like that milky toner! Anyway, that’s not what this piece is about. It is a very fair critique on the lack of body diversity in this skincare advertisement. In the writer’s words: “The only thing stopping a beauty brand from creating size-inclusive marketing is the willingness to do so.”
Cami Arboles Proves That Strength Is Beauty I loved seeing pole dancer and artist Cami Arboles featured in Playboy. I got into pole dancing pre-pandemic and found her account. She is not only a talented dancer but has an artist’s perspective, often using her own body as an instrument to create shapes found in nature or mimic abstract sculptures. Her work is a celebration of the body in every form, and she embraces sexuality and sensuality without pandering to the male gaze. If you’ve ever thought about trying pole, her description is so spot on. “Pole dancing or any movement practice instills that mind/body connection, instills play, helps you be a little less risk-averse. It’s helping you to say, I don’t need to apologize for existing in a body.”
Thank you for reading and supporting Luteal Faze! A sneak peek into what’s coming soon: I recently interviewed my younger sister, a Gen Z federal employee living in D.C., about current events, life, and more. As an elder Millennial, I learned a lot from our conversation, and I look forward to sharing it with all of you next month!