Heart Eyes, Vol. 104: GLOW and Lemony Turmeric Cake
Happy Friday, everyone. We made it! But also, how are we all holding up? Are we all washing our hands? I’m trying hard not to participate in public panic, just keeping an eye—but not too much of an eye—on the news as things unfold. (But also, here’s my favorite hand cream, available at Target and Walgreens, to help keep everyone’s poor, extremely clean hands from shriveling up into nothing.) In the meantime, let’s all hug (or bump elbows with, or smile lovingly at from a distance) our loved ones, and eat delicious food, and do the things we love to do, and get outside every once in a while, and if we happen to be squirreling away some extra pasta and toilet paper, or quietly setting aside a stack of books just in case, well, that’s fine, too. Whatever you’re up to this weekend, I hope it’s beautiful.
You’ll notice that this week’s newsletter only includes two recommendations—I’m experimenting with flexibility in that area, which I think might help me be more consistent in posting. Stay tuned.
What To Watch: GLOW on Netflix
Truthfully, I feel like I’m struggling with TV a bit right now—for the first time in the era of Peak TV, there isn’t much that’s grabbing me in this winter season. But on Friend of Heart Eyes Sarah’s recommendation, I recently spent a few luxurious weeks catching up on three seasons of GLOW—that would be the scripted Netflix dramedy based on Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, an actual women’s pro wrestling show from the 80s—and I’m so glad I did. It’s the best thing I’ve watched so far this year, and such a beautiful mishmash of things I love: stories about women, stories about groups of women (not all of them white, not all of them straight, not all of them young, not all of them wealthy), stories about friendship, stories about sports, stories about rag-tag assemblies of weirdos coming together to create something great. And also professional wrestling. (Fun fact: I didn’t have to write a senior thesis in college, but if I had, I always think I might have written about rhetoric in the turn-of-the-century WWF. Among other, uh, rhetorical devices, they made a lot of speeches!) And it’s wonderful: funny, alternately spiky and heartwarming, honest about a variety of female experiences, and packed with excellent performances, and also funny high-cut leotards. I’d also like to shake the hand of the visionary who thought to cast Marc Maron as the self-loathing, secretly hopeful director of the show-within-a-show; he’s perfect, and surprisingly vulnerable, and if you can’t quite picture him having crackling, heartbreaking romantic tension with Alison Brie, well, you just wait. I loved it, and you might love it, too. You can find GLOW on Netflix.
What To Bake: Lemony Turmeric Tea Cake
This weekend, I think you should bake a bright yellow cake. This bright yellow cake, in fact, from Alison Roman, which she refers to as “house cake”—the kind of cake you have around the house and, I assume, “even out” one funny, asymmetrical partial slice at a time until it disappears. I made it last week and began plotting a second one before the first was even gone; I was totally taken in by its tender texture, the complex mellowness of turmeric against the butter and lemon, and the lightly charred sugared lemon slices scattered across the top. All this to say, it’s a keeper, especially for a changeable late-winter weekend like the one before us. Maybe you should make one (or two), too. (The link above is from Epicurious, though I originally got this recipe from the New York Times Cooking section—here’s the link, if you’re a subscriber.)