News

June is Pride Month, and we thought it would be good to commemorate the struggle and advancements made by our LGBTQI brothers & sisters (and non-conforming siblings) by delving a bit into Pride history with some fun facts!

(Hat tip to Mic.com and CNN.com for these facts!)

1. The first Pride parade was organized by bisexual activist Brenda Howard a month after the Stonewall Inn Riots in 1969. The Stonewall Inn is a bar in Manhattan's West Village neighborhood that was and is known for its patronage by LGBT clientele. At the time, it was still illegal for LGBT folks to meet in public places. The riots and ensuing protests, incited by a police raid, lasted for three days and nights and are widely recognized as a pivotal moment in LGBT history and the first major push for LGBT rights and equal protection under the law.

2. The iconic Rainbow Flag was first designed and developed by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978, inspired by LGBT activist and politician Harvey Milk, who wanted a symbol of pride and hope for the LGBT community to rally around.

The original flag featured eight colors, each representing a different concept — red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sun), green (nature), indigo (harmony), violet (spirit), turquoise (the arts), and hot pink (sex) — but turquoise and hot pink were omitted to cut production costs as demand for the flag grew following Milk's assassination on November 27th, 1978. 

3. Despite his contribution to regrettable anti-LGBT policies like the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy (1993; repealed in 2011) and DOMA (the Defense Of Marriage Act, 1996; partially voided in 2013 by the Supreme Court's U.S. v. Windsor decision, fully voided in 2015 by the Supreme Court ruling that states cannot ban same-sex marriage), President Bill Clinton was the first U.S. president to publicly recognize June as Pride Month via official proclamation. President Barack Obama is the only other U.S. president to do so.

4. While Pride Month is generally viewed as being a catch-all celebration for the LGBTQI community, trans people and people of color have largely been absent from mainstream LGBT events and media. As a result, there are many trans-specific and black-specific Pride events and advocacy organizations in various cities. Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego all have dedicated trans-pride events each year. There are lots of black Pride events across the U.S. and around the world, too! For more information about black Pride events near you, please visit the Center For Black Equity.

5. Some might say this is opinion and not a fact, but we assure you — it is indeed factual: Pride events are AWESOME. We've had the pleasure to attend (and vend at) Pride festivals in Washington, D.C., New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego over the years, and they are a blast, regardless of gender, identity, orientation, etc. There are a lot of worse (and very few better) ways to spend a warm June weekend. If you've never been to one, good grief — GET THEE TO PRIDE. And if you have already been to one and are going to be out there for the parades and other festivities throughout the rest of the month, stay safe, have fun, and above all, be PROUD!

And if you're in need of suitable Pride apparel, feel free to check out some of our fave Pride tees & tanks below!

Friend of Dorothy Men's T-Shirt:

Gay (Lion) Pride Unisex Tank Top:

I Heart My Two Moms Women's V-Neck T-Shirt (Juniors Fit):

I Heart My Two Dads Boy's T-Shirt:

That's it until next week!

Peace, love, and pride,

Boredwalk

...we adore mac & cheese here at Boredwalk HQ!

We know, we know — hardly a rebellious claim. But when it comes to our (many, many) go-to comfort foods, macaroni & cheese is #1 with a bullet. Why?

• Carby & starchy? Check!

• Gooey & creamy? Check!

• Suitable for vegans & omnivores alike (with some slight modifications, of course)? Check!

• Supremely adaptable, with an ability to modify endlessly with a mere dash, pinch, or chop? Check!

And lest you think that mac & cheese is a modern creation with shallow roots in the mid-20th century, check out some of these cool facts:

• Despite the primary ingredients of pasta & cheese and their association with Italian cuisine, mac & cheese as we know it has its roots in merry olde England. The first modern recipe for it appeared in 1770 in a book by Elizabeth Raffald called The Experienced English Housekeeper.

• The first well-known usage of the dish in the United States came courtesy of Thomas Jefferson, who first encountered it in Paris and during travels through northern Italy. He loved it so much he even served it (baked, of course) at a state dinner in 1802. It doesn't get much classier than that!

• Macaroni & cheese is something of an upstart rival to Canada's official national dish, poutine, with some Canadians professing to love mac & cheese even more than poutine. We'd never presume to speak for our friendly northern neighbors; please feel free to weigh in in the comments section!

(Full disclosure: these facts — and many more — are all courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Whether you prefer the simplicity of boxed mac & cheese, or go all-out and bake it in a cast-iron skillet topped with bread crumbs & truffle oil like a seasoned gourmand, this is one dish that will always be welcome at our house. After all, mac & cheese is my therapy:

And don't even get us started on grilled cheese:

Or some of our fave varieties, for that matter! We love cheese in any language!

That's it until next week! Have a great weekend and stay safe out there!

Peace, love, and mac & cheese,

Boredwalk

In addition to Memorial Day's remembrance of U.S. service men and women who have fallen in the line of duty, it also has historically marked an unofficial start to summer in the United States. To that end, we've crafted a Spotify playlist of tunes that make us think about warmer weather and everything that goes along with it — driving with the windows rolled down, cookouts, beach trips, and comfy clothes. Check it out!

It was extremely difficult to pare this down to fifteen tracks, but we tried our best! A few notes on the selections:

• I first learned about The O'Jays from Tracy Morgan referring to them in an episode of SNL.

• The Go-Go's 'Vacation' soundtracks a montage in one of the best episodes of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia ever, 'The Gang Goes To The Jersey Shore'.

• Pavement's 'Cut Your Hair' is one of our all time favorite videos of the mid-90s:

• Picking between Biggie's 'Juicy' and 'Hypnotize' was the toughest decision made in the creation of this list.

• Oasis recorded a ridiculous number of high-quality B-sides from 1994-1997; 'Stay Young' is my favorite. 

That's it until next week — have fun over the weekend and stay safe!

Peace, love, and tacos,

Boredwalk