However you’re coming into this weekend, as pagan or pilgrim, we witches want to say Happy Spring! You can’t skip an opportunity for sun salutations, so celebrate in what ever guise fits you best.
This unpredictable holiday suits me, I love the chaos of it. Christmas and Thanksgiving have so much tradition sewn in, there’s rite and ritual that must be followed, dinner, presents, trees, turkeys, yada yada yada.
For Easter, we’re hiding food? Is that an egg under your couch from last year (guess it WAS a great spot)? We’re eating all kinds of sugar bombs and chocolate filled chocolate at first light and then maybe having eggs, maybe ham. Perhaps a crabcake.
We used to have a tradition of kite flying after Easter brunch. There’s something about greeting the winds of spring and pretending you can tame them. It’s optimistic. We’d head up to the empty school yard and spool out thread as those dangerous triangles of plastic darted and whipped like demons through the sky, before dive bombing to the ground surely trying to kill us.
One year I bought us a foil, a kite with intent. You needed two hands and the will of a middle school band director. That first spring Sunday wind was wild, we had no idea what we were in for. Soon enough, without a YouTube tutorial or even a reading of the instructions, we achieved lift-off. Friends, I will tell you that I remember that day as the one my fear of tornadoes was affirmed: wind does not fuck around. Giant Baby, as a mere Medium Baby, was lifted off the ground and carried more feet than either he or I was comfortable with. He was fine, but we were both wide-eyed and humbled. Of course his big brother, then tween Geo Boi, proceeded to begin a life-long obsession with catching as much air as possible with that kite.
Which, is forever my definition of renewal, rebirth, or Spring as the calendar calls it. Delight in the possibilities, respect the chaos, and go forth like you can and will ride the light. Sally forth, witches.
BTW // Just thought I’d share this WSJ article about how We’re Working Less on Fridays Than We Used to, and That’s OK. I gifted you that link so that you have ammo for your next chat with the bosses.
“Growing evidence suggests it’s because taking it easier one day of the week can supercharge performance on others, plus mitigate the costs of worker burnout and turnover. Some bosses are even discovering their staff work more effectively when they’re left to sort their Fridays on their own.” « Key takeaway to send to your CEO.
I need a moment to thank Lori and Julia of MyTalk 107.1 for their service. The blonde bombers announced their retirement from radio this week, and it’s for the best reason: MTFA (more time to fuck around). Obviously they deserve time after 22 years leading drive time, but they’ve been way more than just jockeys.
When you live your life in the open, on the stage, in front of a camera or microphone, you either play a character or you play yourself. Those two gave so much of themselves over the years, the pretty and the ugly, the hilarious and the wrecked, the hopeful and the sarcastic, but most importantly: the real. They showed me you could balance it, what you gave and what you kept for yourself, and still be an authentic voice in the dark. They have been the sisters all of us have deserved, but I’m happier still that they’re going out on top and grabbing for that real life that is just for them. XO ladies, you’re officially planning cookie party this year, because y’all will have the time.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR WHEN you may have eaten all the Cadbury Mini Eggs (that pleasantly feel like chocolate chalk) and you’re simply done chasing all the stupid fake cellophane grass everywhere.
» Have you watched the 90s Kid TV takedown called Quiet on the Set? Wow. Just wow. Shout out to sweet Drake Bell for bravery. The exposé, which has given us an inside look at how TV execs view the safety of the children they build their empire upon, will have a new fifth episode titled “Breaking the Silence” on April 7.
» Clock me in as SURPRISED by how much I am enjoying Max’s The Girls on the Bus. I get wary of archetypal political schtick, but the women characters so far have been written with more depth than I expected. Still watching. New episodes every Thursday.
» Conversely I am not surprised by the dirtbagginess on display in The Truth vs. Alex Jones doc, now on Max. But while you’re hate-watching Jones, be prepared to cry-watch the Sandy Hook parents who came together to say NO MORE.
AND WHAT TO READ
« How to Sleep on a Plane—Even If You’re in the Middle Seat is loaded with things to buy that might aid you, and I’m not currently endorsing any of them, but I am that human who thinks she’ll be able to snooze elegantly on her own, whilst truly ending up head bobbing and smacking into the seat in front of her. Numerous times. So, I need to learn.
« My dearest and tallest friend Stephanie Meyer, with whom I share initials and wisdom about dating, also have something else in common. We both lost our moms in 2023, two women who could not have been more different. And while grief is similarly different for everyone, it is also at its core: the same. In her newsletter for her Project Vibrancy nutritional coaching service, she wrote a beautiful treatise on Making Beauty of Grief. I am honored to share it with anyone who might need her words.
“I'm thinking about grief as a portal to the next stage of my life, I'm thinking of it as an unstuckness superpower.”
« I have not yet dug into New York Mag’s deep dive into the world of pop-fitness-healer-therapy-guru Andrew Huberman, but many of the women in my life have been hashing it out. Particularly, the way comforting language can be used as a weapon, which just makes us all more tired. “Narcissists gonna seep into every crevice they can” was a hot take on the text chain.
« Who doesn’t love a wine-swilling swindler saga to the tune of $9.5mill?
« Color me intrigued for Green Curry Chicken Pot Pie.
A little playlist for your melty afternoon. See you Monday, krautlings.
Per usual, love it.
Happy Easter, Stephanie! Go fly a kite!