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🧀 If you're feeling cheesed off today...
MAYBE YOU COULD USE SOME MELTY GOOEY COMFORT FOOD
It's National String Cheese Day and National Queso Day! Whether you're feeling nostalgic for your favorite grade school lunchbox treat or want to dip chips into some warm savory goodness, today's national occasions are decidedly cheesy. Mac and Cheese is still my favorite cheese-based indulgence, but any fromage in a storm will do, amirite?
Me too, Keegan, me too.
September 20th is also the anniversary of The Battle of the Sexes. It was on this day in 1973 that Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in a mixed gender tennis match, after Riggs claimed he could beat any female tennis player. King took home $100,000 in prize money and the match was and still is one of the most viewed tennis matches on television — it was watched by about 90 million people around the world!
Finally, Chag Sameach to those of you celebrating Sukkot today!
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Alright, birthday time! Today we are honoring:
Author, activist, and Pulitzer Prize winner Upton Sinclair, born today in 1878! Sinclair wrote nearly 100 books and other works in several genres, but is probably best known for his 1906 muck-raking novel The Jungle, which exposed horrifying labor and sanitation conditions in the U.S. meatpacking industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.
Writer and television producer George R.R. Martin, born this day in 1948! Martin is best known for his series of epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire, which was adapted into the Emmy Award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones.
Birthday shoutouts are also due for actors Sophia Loren, Asia Argento, and Kristen Johnston. Lastly, a happy birthday to news and political commentator Van Jones.
OK! Scroll on down for a fun Boredwalk Community Q&A with Amber R.! We'll be back in your inbox on Wednesday morning with links to fun distractions! If you'd like to be featured in an upcoming email, reply to this and let me know! If you're looking to do some early holiday shopping this week, be sure to use the code YAY10 at checkout to save 10% on orders of $100 or more! Until next time...
Peace, love, and cheese,
Meredith
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Amber looking ready to seize the night in her Carpe Noctem scoop-neck fleece!
1. What's your actual day job and what's your dream day job?
I'm an SEO Copywriter and Web Developer, but my dream day job is author — I write contemporary fiction filled with nerdy references and merciless sarcasm. Someday I'll be published. (What do you mean I have to get off Twitter and finish my edits to accomplish that? Ugh, fine. I'll do it, but I won't like it.)
2. What's your biggest pet peeve?
People calling me Amanda. OK, it's a totally self-centered pet peeve but it happens constantly — in person, emails, whatever. My name is IN my work email address and they still get it wrong.
(Ed. note: I don't think this is self-centered at all. If they want your attention that badly, the least they can do is address you by your actual name!)
3. What's the most useful piece of advice you've ever received?
Never follow the recipe exactly. Cooking is meant to be from the heart, not by the book. (Advice does not apply to baking, which is quite literally chemistry.)
4. If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?
The ability to speak any language fluently.
5. You can curse your nemesis with a minor annoyance for eternity; what do you choose?
Squeaky soles on every pair of shoes they buy, ever. This was the number one reason people returned their shoes to the store where I worked.
6. What experience do you most want to cross off your bucket list?
Traveling anywhere and everywhere; I want to see the world. But, if I had to pick one location, my #1 dream trip would be to visit Morocco.
7. Clear up a misconception (about your job, where you are from, some other topic you know a lot about).
I'm from Vermont, and people assume we're all just out here drinking maple syrup, eating cheddar, hanging out with cows, and making all kinds of whacky craft beer. I'm here to clear this up once and for all. Oh, wait. Sorry, this information is 100% accurate, no lies detected.
8. Where can the rest of the Boredwalk community find you?
On Twitter @ARobertsWrites and my writing blog or curled up in a comfy armchair reading.
Going down? 😈
And what have we learned today? 🤔
MOSTLY THAT SEPTEMBER 15TH SHOULD BE ASKING US FOR FORGIVENESS
Happy National Online Learning Day! Here's what I learned online today: there are LOTS of random holidays that fall on September 15th, and none* of them are particularly interesting. Linguine? Cheese Toast? School Backpack Awareness? Creme de Menthe? Felt hats? GET IT TOGETHER, SEPTEMBER 15th!
*No offense if you're observing Yom Kippur today. In fact, g’mar chatima tova if you are! But you should also probably not be on the internet today, since it's full of pictures of food and sexy people and leather shoes and ads for lotions and scented oils. The internet is basically a minefield of Leviticus-flouting temptations.
Fun fact: when you search "yom kippur" on Giphy, all the results are about being hungry and asking for forgiveness. Way to go, algorithm! #NailedIt
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Before we get to this week's amusing links let's celebrate a few September 15th birthdays!
Scribes: James Fenimore Cooper (1789) and Agatha Christie (1890)
Sportsballers: Dan Marino (1961)
Scandalous Royals: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (1984)
Screenwriters: Oliver Stone (1946)
Stout POTUSes: William Howard Taft (1857)
Sapersteins: Parks And Rec actor Ben "Jean-Ralphio Saperstein" Schwartz (1981)
Alright, you've waited long enough — let's get to some fun links!
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1. Sand sculptures that are stunningly lifelike!
Artist Andoni Bastarrika makes amazing sculptures out of sand, and the level of detail (and amount of time he spends working with such an ephemeral medium) is truly remarkable.
2. Food that's fit for a hobbit, or a time lord, or a flesh-eating monster.
Austin, Texas-based freelance writer Chris-Rachael Oseland moonlights as a culinary dynamo, whipping up all sorts of fandom-themed baked goods. Enjoy!
3. Weird internet videos are kinda what the internet is all about.
This deep dive into the artistry behind the lo-fi gems the internet has given us over the last few decades is a treasure trove of weirdness that really hits the spot, creatively speaking.
4. A Freddie Mercury/Pee-wee Herman mashup? Yes, please!
If you've ever wondered what it might sound like if Freddie fronted The Champs doing their hit song 'Tequila', wonder no more!
5. "Human salsa." That is all.
Watch out for those dive-bombing donkeys!
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OK! Hopefully these little diversions helped to brighten your day! We'll be back here in your inbox on Friday with more random holidays, celebrity birthdays, and some other fun treats! Until then...
Peace, love, and learning things online,
Mat