This grackle, despite all appearances, wants you to have a really pleasant Monday:
Hey hey hey hey HEY have you heard the news? POMEpress has an open call for submissions for a brand-new anthology: Going Steady, romance comics about people in the middle of their relationship journey. Check it out and send us a pitch!
Speaking of committed relationships, congrats to these intrepid navigators of healthy boundaries:
Our latest music obsession is this longread about Daddy Yankee legitimizing and revolutionizing reggaetón, the single best musical genre to emerge from the hell of the early aughts.
Sizzy Rocket is a new music fave, who we learned about by reading this Bitch magazine piece on her unique style, challenging the “softness” of lesbian pop.
We recently learned that the mom who inadvertently popularized the “gender reveal” party isn’t all that jazzed about the culture around it, and is happily raising a gender-non-conforming kid, which really gives us, like?? Some hope??? In humanity????
Elsewhere in big gender feels, this personal essay by Jameson Hampton, “What I Wish I Knew Before I Had Top Surgery,” was really thoughtful and moving.
As we hurtle onward through summer, here’s an excellent reminder that discipline is well and good, but taking time to enjoy life fills the well that nourishes creativity.
Parting thought: Hank Hill, we salute thee in all thine forms.